All I Need
by TaliaMacGregor
Summary: In which I vaguely follow TVD cannon and write the soulmate/werewolf mating AU which absolutely no one asked for. OR The one in which Klaus finds his soulmate, gets bitten, hides his mating mark from her and waits for the day she'll let him give her one back. Fluffy, mildly angsty slow burn with possible super hot hybrid smut in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Klaus couldn't quite pinpoint why he found himself stepping past Matt and into the Forbes' house. In truth, he couldn't pinpoint why he had stepped onto the porch, or the street, or even left the manor in the first place. It was a strange kind of compulsion pulling deep in his chest, but certainly eased with every step towards her that he took. What was clear was that it wasn't him, but his newly awakened wolf. They were still learning to co-exist, playing a constant game of tug-of-war to figure out who would have control for the moment.

It had been rough in the beginning. At first he thought that he was going mad, feeling two different emotions at once and never being quite as sure in his decisions. The witch said that it was his curse to bare, never truly feeling comfortable in his skin again - a punishment for upsetting the course of nature. Klaus had left her alive just long enough to exhaust her knowledge, before Mystic Falls had called him back. He'd find a better one just as soon as he had a spare minute.

He could hear her breathing through the thin wall to her bedroom, her rasping breath laboured even in her sleep. Klaus paused before pushing through the doorframe, taking silent steps so as not to wake her. Gazing down at her face, he didn't care whether or not she died. Not really.

Sure, she was pretty. Beautiful even, and very much his type. He could see it, even through her hollowed, sickened skin. It made him a little weary, just how attractive he found her even in this state. He'd lived one thousand years, and he'd had many a pretty girl decorate his bed before he'd removed their hearts. So why the incessant tug in his chest. His wolf wasn't speaking in a discernible language, just pulling him to her relentlessly. He peeled his jacket off, draped it on the seat of her vanity and moved closer.

"Caroline?" He breathed quietly, sitting on the side of her bed.

She stirred awake, eyes catching his immediately. At first she said nothing, just meeting his gaze with a steady and questioning view. She then murmured "Are you going to kill me?" Even in the dim, yellow light it was clear how pale she was. Drained of colour, and so different from how she'd looked just a few hours earlier when he'd seen her with Tyler. Klaus tilted his head. Not so much at her words, but at his physical reaction to them. As she spoke, he felt his chest tighten, heart rate speeding up when it had no business to.

She sounded weak, fragile even. He answered quickly, "On your birthday? You really think that low of me?"

"Yes." Caroline answered without hesitation. She met his gaze, and held it. How enticing. Fascinating even. Klaus tilted his head, working his mind around the spirit she held even on her deathbed. How rare it was to find one so young who wasn't afraid of him.

Ignoring her words, he reached over and pulled her bedsheets from her shoulder, careful not to skim the irritated skin. It was clear her fever was reaching a pitch, covering her forehead in a thin sweat even though her body shivered visibly beneath the sheets. Oblivious to the way she flinched away from the cool air, Klaus sighed and inspected the gory sight with a clinical eye. In comparison to the things he had seen and done, it was but an angry scratch. And yet Klaus felt dread looking at it - a deep and desperate pit at the bottom of his stomach which hadn't felt so cavernous since Mikael was put down. In Klaus' defence, he'd never seen a late-stage werewolf bite up close before.

"That looks bad." He felt himself saying. "My apologies, you're what's known as collateral damage. It's nothing personal." _Tyler_. Bloody Tyler. Klaus sniffed the air softly. He had definitely been here - in this room - but not recently. What a pity, to subject the girl to such a torture and have no payoff. The whole exercise was to punish Tyler, to show him just how inferior he was against the hybrid sire.

Caroline was watching him again. He could see how much effort it took to keep her eyes open, and yet she fought. Admirable. He couldn't help but think she'd make a wonderful foot soldier, with a spirit like that.

He looked away first, gaze dropping to the silver charm bracelet hanging around her wrist. A small heart charm with an engraved _T_ sat, slightly scuffed and dulled by wear. His fingertips danced over it of their own accord. "I love birthdays."

She scoffed and let her eyes fall to her wrist too. "Yeah." She sighed. The pain in her wound was burning hot, already having spread through her upper arm and chest. It made her voice crack, and while she wished to cry and shift to find some relief, her muscles wouldn't move on command anymore. Most of all, she wanted her mom, or Matt, or anyone else, really. She didn't want to die alone with him. In the end though, it didn't really matter. She'd said everything which needed to be said. She could feel it coming soon. "Aren't you like, a billion or something?"

Klaus smirked, gaze travelling back to her face. He admired her, with her blonde curls and sharp cheekbones even this close to death. "You have to adjust your perception of time when you become a vampire, Caroline." He schooled. "Celebrate the fact that you are no longer bound by trivial human conventions."

"No." Her face changed. Hardened as she held his gaze. "I'm dying."

Klaus' stomach twisted sharply. How odd. He frowned, looking down at his own body. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, and yet he felt… something. He felt something other than anger and pride, something he hadn't felt in a long time. "And I could let you. Die. If that's what you want. If you really believe your existence has no meaning. I've thought about it myself, once or twice over the centuries, truth be told." He murmured, shifting closer. He could smell the subtle fragrance of her. Of the sheets she lay on, the clothes she wore and the room she'd come to live in. It was foreign to him, but not unwelcome, even with the smell of soured blood seeping from her wound. On the contrary it was addictive, and too faint for his liking. Klaus wanted to press his face a little closer, run it along her neck where it was the strongest, or maybe inhale on her pillows where it was long-standing. Her lips parted as he spoke, her brow furrowing deeper in reaction. Klaus experimented, leaning in a little closer and feeling his heart speed up double time. His mind couldn't rationalise, but just inches from her face Klaus realised that he didn't want her to die in front of him. Maybe not at all, actually. Even this close, almost nose to nose, the wolf in him was pushing harder than ever to gain some control. Klaus pressed it down to be dealt with later. "But I'll let you in on a little secret." He paused, feeling her breath fan out over his face. "There is a whole world, out there waiting for you. Great cities and art and music. Genuine beauty. And you can have all of it, you can have a thousand more birthdays." He watched as her eyes shone while he quietened the instinct to reach out and touch her, comfort her. Klaus didn't do that. Not for just anyone.

Caroline didn't say anything and Klaus ground his teeth together. His eyes flitted to her bite, ever growing. He almost felt guilty, but quickly shook the feelings away. She still didn't say a word. "All you have to do is ask." He added.

Lip shaking, it was clear that she was holding back tears. Trying her best, even under the circumstances, to stay composed. Caroline watched his features soften, eyes urging her for an answer, any answer. She thought of her less than perfect life, of all the things she had wanted before she was turned - a prom, graduation, college, marriage, kids and grandkids of her own. When she became a vampire, parts of the list became impossible. Now the promise of the other half was fading. "I don't wanna die."

Klaus let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. He reached out for her, curving a gentle hand around the back of her head. He was careful not to touch her wound, but still pulled her up, slotting himself against her back so that she could lean against him. He felt the burning hot fever of her skin even through his clothes. With the shift of fabric and the smallest whimper, her forehead came to fit under his chin. In any other circumstance, he'd have loathed this gentle embrace, but the sparks he felt touching her skin were exhilarating. Wild, even. He made a mental note to experiment more with werewolf bites, but with more disposable candidates. Klaus tugged his sleeve up, careful not to jolt her anymore than necessary. Exposing the bare skin of his forearm, he set it in front of her mouth and rested his cheek against her hair, breathing in the smell of her. After just a moment, he felt her blunt human teeth press against the skin of his wrist. A voice in his head was blunt and unwavering. His wolf had finally learned to talk - _he wanted her to bite_. Needed her to bite even. With every second that ticked by Klaus felt the electricity sizzling over his skin, the clawing of an internal battle getting more and more unbearable, so unlike anything he'd ever experienced before.

"There you go, sweetheart. Have at it." He encouraged, strained and husky but still stroking gently down blonde locks with his free arm. As if in slow motion, Klaus felt her fangs extend and rest against his skin. _Yes yes yes yes yes yes_.

Then she bit down. And the whole world went white.

When Klaus awoke he was first aware of the heat against his body. His chest to her back, hands interlinked, head cushioned by copious pillows. It took him a moment to piece things together, to ensure that he was awake and that last night was not a very vivid dream. His wolf roared deep inside him, and it took a great deal of self-restraint to mitigate the sound to a pleased grumble into the pillow. He tightened his arms around her frame, eyes flitting open to peer down on the now unblemished skin of her shoulder before squeezing closed. It's been a long time since he had a body in bed with him, too long, perhaps.

The feeling of her fangs sinking into his skin had been sheer, unadulterated and frankly, too-good-to-have-the-door-open bliss. The memory alone took his breath away, chest tightening with want and arousal.

Yet the morning sunlight was streaming in through unclosed curtains and so Klaus sighed, accepted his fate and opened his eyes to glance at her small frame still covered by bedsheets. Beyond the line of her shoulders, he could see the pearly white of scar tissue raised above the skin of his forearm. A new decoration, a claim and a mating mark healed delicately upon the skin of his wrist. He felt the draw. To pull her up against him, inhale her air and merge their bodies together. Of course he did. But he had known for a long time now what finding a mate would feel like, and he'd had a long time to strategise his response.

He knew that awakening his wolf would mean finding her, eventually. It was too common a part of the folklore to be false. Besides, he had seen it happen again and again hundreds of years ago, when he freely watched the werewolf colony. One day a wolf would find their match, and from there on out be inseparable under their deaths. He hadn't expected it to happen quite so fast after he'd turned, but Caroline was pretty, innocent and fiery, and entirely what the demons in him would find attractive. And best of all, she was already as immortal as he was.

For the first few hundred years he'd planned to kill his mate. A mate was a weakness and a distraction. Yet, throughout his years of experimenting, tearing apart and torturing soulmates, seeing just how much one could endure before the other passed or went mad from the torment, Klaus had somewhat warmed to the idea. Because if what he'd learned about their unwavering devotion to one another - even in the face of the greatest terrors on earth - was true, Klaus' soulmate would have that same devotion to him, and his cause. Now, shifting to gaze at her soft features, kissed by the steaks of sunlight escaping past the blinds, he knew he couldn't have hurt her, even if it had been his plan all along. This was his mate, of that he was sure. His wolf was yearning, but uncharacteristically pleased, pressing hard against his consciousness to be allowed free reign. He would not allow it, however. Not yet. Not until she understood.

Cradling the baby vampire in his arms, Klaus wondered how he hadn't guessed it yesterday. The thought hadn't crossed his mind until he'd been coming down from his euphoric high, regaining his vision and watching his bite mark heal quickly - even by hybrid standards - to scar his otherwise unmarred skin. He could feel her, in every sense of the word. Feel the electricity where their skin still touched, count her heartbeats as well as he could count his own and best of all, feel through every pore in his body that she was satiated and content, dreaming on another plain.

It made sense now. The pull to the house, to her room, to her. The incessant need to get her to bite him. And now, the incessant need to sink his teeth into her, merge their bodies and consummate their mating. But not yet. Minutes passed by as Klaus unwound his fingers from hers at a snail's pace, before extracting his arms from around her as well. He sat in her bed for a little while after that, listening to her steady breathing and watching the sun move across her skin. Yes, Caroline fit the bill. In her slumber she murmured at the loss, a grumpy pout on her lips. It made him soften, eyes drinking in as much as possible and committing it to memory, from the crumpled curls on her pillow to someone else's bracelet on her wrist. It bothered him greatly. Certainly enough to rectify the situation immediately even if it meant leaving before she awoke.

He slowly extracted himself from her bed, pulled his jacket back on and picked up her t-shirt for good measure, a flimsy thing from the laundry bin which was drenched in her scent. Pressing his nose against it was inevitable as he stood by the doorframe, his wolf roaring in delight and pressing a grin to his face. He wanted her. All of her. But Klaus had thought it through. He'd wait until she was every bit as desperate and yearning as he was. Wait until she gave herself to him willingly and unconditionally. And then they would rule over all.

And until then, he'd protect her with every fibre of his being. After all, the king had finally found his queen.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Klaus returned, the sun was high in the sky and the forest buzzed with activity while the Forbes' house was still and calm in sharp contrast. Approaching the porch with crunching strides, he could hear just one heartbeat inside. While Liz had been reluctant to leave her daughter after such an event, he had ensured that urgent work matters had to be seen to by the sheriff.

Opening the unlocked door gently, Klaus stepped through the threshold and into the shade. He was careful to close it silently behind him, relishing the tingling in his bones at the impatience of his wolf. It was biting, pressing against the surface, stirring up a flutter in his heartbeat and urging him to go to her. Klaus' smirked to himself, ran a hand through his hair and turned on his heels to move quietly down the corridor to her room.

She was exactly as he had left her, a vision half-covered by her bedsheets. A low rumble escaped from Klaus' chest before he caught himself, electric energy flooding through his limbs. It drew him to her, tempting him to _touch_ and _smell_ and _taste_. How inconvenient and illogical his wolf could be. And yet he found himself perching lightly upon the edge of her bed, leaning over to glimpse at her soft features. It was only when he found his hand reaching up to stroke stray hair away from her face that Klaus pushed himself up off the bed, and out of her room in a flash. Standing in the kitchen, he checked himself. His wolf was right under his fingertips telling him to claim and bite and take. Klaus pressed his forehead against the fridge, jaw tight as he swallowed down his urges.

He could hear the rustle of sheets in the next room as Caroline yawned herself awake. Thinking fast, Klaus yanked open the fridge door and hid his face in it as his eyes returned to their normal hazel colour.

Caroline practically leapt out of bed, chest bursting with energy which she was quick to link to hybrid blood. Well, that and the beautiful day outside. Padding barefoot down the hallway in her pyjamas, she felt good. _Really good_. "Mom?" She called, curving around the doorframe and into the kitchen.

Klaus shut the fridge quickly, pulling out bacon and eggs as he went and enjoying the way she visibly startled.

"What are you doing here? And-" Caroline squeaked, taking a step back and covering her chest where the skin was exposed by her thin tank top.

Dimples broke out on his cheeks as Klaus watched her gawk. "You need to eat, love. You had quite the trauma." Setting the ingredients on the counter, Klaus opened the cabinet under the stove. Sure enough, he pulled out the frying pan. Of course Caroline would have a logically organised kitchen.

"Because of you." She hissed, stomping back down the corridor to her room and yanking a cardigan on.

"Now now, Caroline." He called, mildly amused at his wolf's disgruntlement at her turning her back to him. "Need I remind you that if it weren't for my charity, your mother would be planning a funeral right now."

Caroline was in front of him in a flash, slapping his hand away from where it reached for the eggs. Her brow creased and she glared into his eyes, chin up and unafraid. "My mom. Where is she?"

"She's safe, sweetheart. Work called." Klaus raised an eyebrow and swerved around her to grab three eggs in one hand.

It didn't go unnoticed by her. Watching him crack them on the side of the pan, Caroline snapped back. "Don't call me that. Why are you here?"

"Believe it or not, I don't have to answer you, Caroline." Klaus moved to the bin, and then back again to lay down raw bacon strips.

As he brushed past, Caroline rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, leaning against the island. She watched him play chef for a minute. "Fine. Tell me what you want and then leave."

"What I want?" He repeated.

"Yes." She sighed. "You saved me. I owe you. What do you want?"

Klaus pulled a spatula from thin air and seemed all too focused on the food. It irritated her. How rude of him to intrude on her house, steal her food and then refuse her his full attention.

Then eyes met hers, as though he could read her mind. "An interesting take. Well in truth, I wouldn't say no to a date."

"A date. Seriously?!"

"Yes." The smile evident in his voice. "I would like a date. Tonight, at the Founder's Ball."

"I have a boyfriend." Caroline quipped.

"You have an inconvenience."

"Are you threatening him?"

Now it was Klaus' turn to roll his eyes. His teeth ground together at just how deliciously difficult she could be. "Not at all, love. I'm merely suggesting that if Tyler hadn't made me upset in the first place, you wouldn't find yourself indebted to me."

"I'm not going on a date with you."

His wolf rumbled in his bones. "Caroline." A gruff voice warned, eyes with golden flecks meeting hers.

"No! What is wrong with you-"

"Caroline." He set down the spatula. "I can't belie-"

In a flash Klaus was in front of her, an arm on either side of her torso keeping her pinned against the counter. "Come out with me tonight." He ordered, instead of asked. Yet, he was careful not to compel her, focusing on the blush in her cheeks and the line of her lips as he tacked on a "please." In his stomach, Klaus could feel that deep pit of dread beginning to stir at her rejection.

Caroline snorted and shook her head _absolutely not._ Yet she sighed instead of saying no, feeling a soft kind of sadness deep in her chest. Fingertips dancing along the sleeves of her cardigan, she sighed and glanced back at him. His lips slightly parted and not terribly far away from hers, shoulders hunched as if he was trying to control himself. That look did something to her. He was so damn _hot_. _But this can't happen._ With a sharp intake of breath, she met his eyes. They were soft, pleading and all of a sudden she couldn't say what she had originally intended to. She owed him too much. "I will go to the ball." She spoke, watching as Klaus immediately grinned, the switch turning so fast that he looked like a maniac. Caroline shot her hands out to his chest, pushing him away from her to stand independently. "You are not allowed to pick me up. I will find my own way there and we can talk. It is not a date." She clarified.

Yet Klaus' grin remained as he sauntered back to the stove, flipping the contents a few times before setting it on a plate. Placing the plate in front of her, Klaus murmured an "I'll see you there," before reaching into his jacket pocket with an uncharacteristic forgetfulness and pulling out a thin blue case with a thick white ribbon wrapped around it. "And a belated happy birthday, love."

And with the wind rush of the front door shutting, he was gone. Caroline stood alone in the kitchen, glancing around with her lips parted before perching herself on a stool and reading the card attached to the present he had just handed her. _"From Klaus."_

While she tugged at the ribbon tails, Caroline dug into the bacon omelette with her other hand.

* * *

"He made you breakfast?!" While Caroline hadn't developed the ability to see through a telephone, she could just tell that Elena's eyebrows could not have moved any higher.

"Why are you not more concerned about the diamonds, the _literal_ diamonds he bought me?!" Caroline hissed into her mobile.

"Klaus is pretentious and definitely has a crush on you, of course he'd buy you diamonds-" Elena drawled. Caroline scoffed at that, as if 1,000 year old hybrids had crushes like high schoolers. "-but make you breakfast?! He's up to something."

Caroline sighed, sitting down on her bed and stroking over the jewellery case absentmindedly. She had stared at the sparkling gems for long enough before snapping the case shut. Of course she couldn't actually accept the gift, even if it was totally gorgeous and would probably pay for her college tuition. "I know. But I don't know what."

"I don't like this, Care. Are you sure you have to go tonight?"

"Elena, it's a founding family event and I'm Miss Mystic Falls. Yes, I have to go. And so do you."

It was Elena's turn to sigh this time. "But I mean with him? It's not too late to just call Matt."

"Matt's going with Rebekah." The _'god, what is he thinking?'_ was left unsaid.

"No way-" Elena started, but was rudely cut off by the doorbell.

Caroline sat up sharply. No one had texted her that they were coming over, and her mother never came home early on a working day. _Odd_. "Give me a second. I have to get that."

It was a beautiful day, and Caroline was looking forward to sitting outside and feeling the sun on her skin. With every moment that ticked by, the reality set in - she almost died yesterday. Well, ceased to exist, at least. That thought sat heavy with her, and the whole situation felt raw, complicated and sickening. She didn't want to deal with it yet. And so Caroline ignored it, skipping down the hallway, phone glued to her ear. Approaching the glass pane, she found a smiling brunette with a wide face and too many bags hooked on her arms.

Opening the door, Caroline was sure to take a step back, as far into the house as would be socially acceptable.

"Hi! You must be Caroline!" She yapped happily, brushing past the blonde and quickly dropping the bags. An inhale confirmed - definitely human then.

"Uh, yeah. And you are?"

"Stacy! And this is Addison." Stacy turned back to her, remarkably springy on her feet despite her small frame. As Caroline looked around for an accomplice, Stacy stomped back to the door and yelled out an "Addison?!"

Within just a few seconds a second brunette rushed through the door, this time carting two sizeable suitcases behind her which she parked in the middle of the hallway, effectively blocking the way out.

Caroline looked between them. Vapidly, they stared back with matching smiles. Neither of them moved. Gently, the blonde took a step back and into her house, already thinking about the likelihood of the back door being unlocked for a quick escape. "I'm sorry, why are you here?"

"You weren't expecting us?" The second said, her brow furrowing in confusion, before looking to Stacy.

"We're your team." Stacy answered, maintaining her grin. She spoke confidently and clasped her hands behind her back proudly.

It took a second for the words to sink in. Caroline noted how neither of them moved a muscle - they were definitely not there to kill her. "My team?!"

"Skin, nails, hair and makeup. For tonight? Your team?" Addison explained, an uncertain tone taking over as her eyes narrowed. As Caroline held her silence and confused expression - she never could hide her emotions - Addison looked equally as puzzled.

Eventually the blonde shrugged apologetically. "Who sent you here?"

Stacy fielded that one. "I don't remember." So she was compelled then. _Fantastic_.

"Are you being paid?" Caroline sighed, rubbing her temples and frankly wishing she'd never woken up at all.

"Yes. And I was told to tell you that it's non-refundable." Stacy smiled sweetly.

"You're sure? He's definitely paying you?"

Addison jumped in then. "Yes, it was transferred hours ago."

Caroline sighed, before gathering herself and stepping forwards with a renewed sense of purpose. "And did he give you a contact number at all?"

* * *

It had been a quiet day - for him at least - mostly wandering through the woods and trying to avoid both the bustle of party-planning Elijah was conducting in the manor and Caroline's phone calls. Klaus spent his time looking at his new scar, risen and completely unmissable on his forearm. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it. Of course, there are worse things than bites to have permanently marked on your skin and Klaus was no stranger to tattoos while he was alive, and yet the mark irked him a little. She was supposed to have one too - his teeth permanently etched on her skin. Klaus supposed he'd never really like his mark until he saw it mirrored in hers. Its pearly sheen certainly contented his wolf, who reared up whenever Klaus stroked over it. He'd been trying his best to communicate with his wolf - to get it to speak in plain English again, or even give him decipherable emotions. It had resisted, and had been resisting hour after hour. He could feel it settle against his bones, very much awake but unwilling to cooperate. Regular werewolves only felt the split between them and their wolves on full moons, and his hybrids never felt it - of this he was sure. So why did his wolf feel so foreign and unlike himself?

And so Klaus had torn a few trees apart and returned home before nightfall. If this was his curse, he would find a way to undo it. And yet as guests filtered into the manor, it was the last thing on his mind. Elijah had done a spectacular job (as he always did) from the catering to the decor, and already a number of locals had come up to schmooze with he and his siblings. It was entertaining in truth, the way humans fell over themselves to get close to them. Klaus was on his third glass of wine, listening to the town treasurer explain the current funding situation to Elijah when he _felt_ her step into his property.

It was an immediate warmth in his chest, and then in his wrist, only increasing as he travelled through the throngs of townsfolk to the front door. Sure enough, she was only a few steps past the threshold when he caught her eye. He could feel his wolf now, right up against his skin and positively preening. She was _stunning_ in the dress he had chosen for her, with her hair tied back exposing clear skin and sparkling diamonds.

Caroline held his gaze until he was just a step away from her. Throughout the day her jitters had only increased, and now standing in front of him it took all of her focus to not shake like a leaf. It should have been easy to relax, what with the manicure, pedicure, hair styling, makeup artistry, massage and on top of it all having the perfect dress sent to her house (though she'd never admit it). But Caroline couldn't relax in the knowledge that it was Klaus who did all that for her. In fact, it set her on edge.

"Good evening." He murmured.

With the deep breath Caroline inhaled came the smell of him. Spiced leather permeating from his pulse point, and _god_ she wanted a bite. She'd already eaten just a few hours before, and so her instant hunger jolted through her skin like electricity. "I need a drink." She said in his direction, walking quickly past him to avoid another jolt of hunger.

It was only when she had a glass in hand that she felt a presence behind her. Without turning around, Caroline just knew.

"Stacy called." Klaus murmured as he stepped up to her side at the bar. He glanced down at her face, though he hoped to have a far closer inspection of the work he'd paid for later. "She said that you were a model client."

Caroline didn't turn to him, instead keeping her gaze firmly on her wine glass as she replied. "So you're checking up on me now? Getting a report?"

"On the contrary, I didn't ask her to call me."

"But you compelled her to come to my house."

Klaus' dimples were on full display now. "I paid good money to have her fit you in."

That was when Caroline set her glass on the bar and squared her shoulders to look at him. She couldn't deny that he looked gorgeous, but then again she never could say no to a man in a tux. Ignoring the flutterings in her stomach, she replied "So she told me. Why?"

She watched as Klaus shrugged one shoulder, setting his glass next to hers and leaning up against the bar. "Because I knew that you'd send her away if I didn't."

Even against the bustle of the room, the soft string quartet playing in the far corner and the clinking of glasses as the bartenders danced around one another, Caroline could hear the honesty in his voice. In truth, she'd loved being pampered, even if it had meant cancelling on the shopping trip with Elena and Bonnie she'd been planning. She'd loved not having to make all of the decisions, and of course while she had still specified to each stylist exactly what she wanted, they had delivered on her expectations and then exceeded them.

Eyes wandering down the sharp edges of his jawline, Caroline tried to wrap her head around his words, but before she could muster a response he held out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

Klaus held his hand steady, even as her eyes darted around the room to see others pairing up. Tentatively, she slipped her hand - her freshly manicured hand, he noted - into his. Immediately Klaus felt the warmth, but above all, he felt the electricity which burst out over his skin when it met hers. He turned away, sure that his eyes must be at least partially golden with the closeness of his wolf, and god it took everything in him to reign it in enough to lead her out onto the dance floor. Taking a deep breath as the music started up, Klaus turned to face her taking her waist with his other hand.

She watched him with curiosity, slightly pouted lips and a furrowed brow he wished to smooth beneath his fingertips. Klaus said the first thing to come to mind, as he led them absentmindedly through the other dancing couples. "I'm glad you came."

Truth be told, Caroline was a little flustered with the ease with which he was moving her, a gentle pressure on her waist which steered her expertly. His words barely registered, but thinking on her toes Caroline replied, "Well it was either caviar or sympathy casseroles."

Klaus smirked, pulling her a smidgeon closer before his smile evaporated to broach the topic which had been playing on his mind. "I heard about your father." He murmured into her ear, narrowly avoiding a collision with Rebekah and her human date. He felt her fingers tightening around hi, so loosened his grip as to give her more leeway. Their eyes met, and Klaus knew it was just a step too far. Her eyes were wide, like a startled deer before it sprints away. Klaus opened his mouth to sooth her, but was cut off.

"Don't." She bit, but the venom wasn't directed at him. Everything was just too raw, too painful for her right now. She could feel her heart pounding as she tact on a "seriously." Watching as he nodded softly, Caroline felt a little stronger, more powerful at being able to shut down a conversation.

Yet Klaus always surprised her, and as he twirled her around she caught the dimples re-appear on his cheeks. "Very well. Onto more mannered subjects then, like how ravishing you look in that dress." He spoke as though he was commenting on the weather, and Caroline felt the smile curl on her lips. She was blushing - she always did when an attractive man gave her a compliment. A genuine compliment, not the creepy cat-calling stuff she had grown accused to.

It felt a lot like winning, watching her struggle to contain a very obvious grin. Klaus' wolf was content and coherent now - close to the surface but quite happy to just hold her. Caroline looked away first, noting how pleased with himself he was. "I didn't really have time to shop."

"And the bracelet I gave you, whats your excuse for wearing that?" Klaus pulled her closer once again, tilting his head slightly. He'd noticed as soon as she was in his view - to his wolf, it felt of the upmost importance. And sure enough, there was no more childish and dulled silver chain on her wrist, but instead sparkling diamonds which caught the light with every step they danced. His bracelet. Not Tyler's. And yes, that made him _and_ his wolf preen a little.

In truth, Caroline had pulled off Tyler's chain the second she'd heard his voicemail about leaving town. Because _of course_ Tyler ran, Tyler had been running from his problems for all his life. And even last night when he had _literally_ almost killed her, Tyler was running away and playing the victim. She knew that it wasn't his choice, and yet Caroline couldn't find it in herself to forgive him yet. She also couldn't find it in herself to explain to Klaus that Tyler had abandoned her, and the newly gifted diamonds went perfectly with the dress he'd chosen for her. Instead, she smiled gently, meeting his eyes once again.

"You know, you're quite the dancer." Klaus hummed, pulling her off to the outskirts of the dance floor now. Caroline almost rolled her eyes, as the string quartet launched into what had to be the final beats of the song.

"Well, I've had training." She offered as he spun her under his arm. "I happen to be Miss Mystic Falls."

Klaus caught her with both hands against her waist as a small round of applause grew from the crowd around them. "I know." He murmured. _God_ , he wanted nothing more than to tighten his arms around her, breath in her air and keep her close, but the hands she sat on his chest suggested that that may not be an option.

She stared at him for a minute, completely oblivious to the people moving around them. Twice her lips threatened to say something, before closing again. Eventually, Caroline stepped back from him, letting their hands fall with a muttered "I need some air," before she brushed past his shoulder and towards the open doors to the back garden.

Klaus let her, even counting out a ten second head-start before he followed.


	3. Chapter 3

Delicate strings of fairy lights illuminate the night, tangled around almost every tree outside of the manor. The hustle and bustle of the party still played on Caroline's ears, but the cool air calmed her lungs and soothed her hunger. It was quiet out with only a few smokers lingering by the doorway and too engrossed in their own conversations to bother with her.

She walked past them, heels clicking and catching on the rough paving as she put some distance between herself and the party. Curving around the side of the carriage and slowing to a stop by the side of a stallion, Caroline reached out a hand and stroked along the horses face, feeling the course, smooth hair underneath her fingertips.

"You like horses." He spoke from behind her.

While Caroline didn't visibly jump this time, she certainly hadn't heard his approach. She spun around, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders and was relieved to see that he was a few feet away. "I'm not talking to you until you tell me why you invited me here."

"I fancy you." Klaus replied with an impressive amount of nonchalance. She watched his lips pull up until dimples cut into his cheeks. "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes." She replied immediately, turning back to the horse to hide her blush.

"Why? You're beautiful, you're strong, you're full of light." Even from where he stood, Klaus could see the heat rising in her cheeks. He could _feel_ her heart pounding through the mark on his arm just as clearly as he could hear his own. Speaking honestly never bothered Klaus, but it didn't come naturally to him anymore. He often found it to be the least direct route to fulfilling his ambitions. Yet watching his words soften her face, he felt as though he should be honest more often. "I enjoy you."

She considered his words for a moment, letting the stallion twist and press his head further into her hands. "Well I'm spoken for. By Tyler."

He could feel his wolf whining, but Klaus kept a straight face, turning his attention to his horse. "I thought you two ended things."

"Yeah, because of you and your freaky sire bond with him." The blonde snapped back, not bothering to hide the roll of her eyes.

"So you aren't spoken for." Klaus smirked, placating his wolf for now. He stepped closer and reached out to stroke at his horses nose. "You know, horses are the opposite of people. They're loyal. My father hunted me for a thousand years and the closest he ever came was the day he killed my favourite horse. He severed its head with a sword as a warning."

Caroline could smell him now, but only faintly as the rich smell of the horse danced between them. Even so, the faintness of him still made her teeth _hurt_ and she struggled to keep her fangs tucked away. "Did you ever consider sitting down with your father and talking it out?" As a precautionary measure, she took a step back. Besides, she could see the stallion enjoying Klaus' scratching far more than hers.

"I'm afraid my relationship with my father was a bit more complex than yours."

"Maybe so. But I let my father go with no regrets. And to answer your question, yes I like horses." Being away from the horse only cleared her lungs for an inhale full of his scent, along with the lingering scent of the humans from inside. Caroline was losing it, and fast. Her fangs pressed right up against her gums and her throat burned, coming on so quickly it frightened her. "But I also like people and they actually like me, so I'll be inside." And with that, Caroline turned her back and began to walk back towards the party. Yet with every step as she tried to wrestle down her monster, it seemed to grow in strength until she was sure that the veins under her eyes were blackened.

In his chest Klaus could feel a very faint and very foreign discomfort tightening his lungs. He knew immediately that it wasn't his, because he'd been feeling little spurs all day - elation, confusion, nervousness, and now a strange brand of discomfort. "Caroline?" He called after her as she stopped walking. "I have a few other horses and a foal which would like a pet." Klaus could see her shawl-covered back and few very rouge blonde curls which were illuminated by the fairy lights behind him. "Come on." He coaxed, giving his stallion one last pat. "I'll even let you feed them."

Caroline didn't turn fully but instead twisted her head over her shoulder and looked down, trying her best to get herself under control. The burning in her throat was unlike anything she'd felt before. "Do you have…" She started, as Klaus stalked towards her. Reaching out tentatively, he caught her wrist and spun her around to face him. The electricity of his touch jolted through her, letting her shake away her monster for the time being. "I'm… uh-"

"Hungry?" Klaus suggested, intwining their hands and pulling her past the stallion and further into the garden. "Come."

* * *

As soon as they had stepped into the stable block, Caroline felt more in control. The strong scent of the beasts helped sooth her urges a little and when Klaus dropped her hand and left her to gaze into the pen they'd stopped at, she preoccupied herself with doting on the creatures inside.

"What are their names?" She asked softly, watching as the foal cuddled up to its mother. They were both lying down, but awake enough to glance in her direction. The foal was simply tiny, with spindly legs that looked far too long for its body.

Klaus reappeared quickly, unlocking the door for her before pushing it open and leaving the blonde once again. "The mother is Demeter." He called from around the corner, making some satisfying clinking sounds. "The foal is new, obviously. It doesn't have one yet."

Caroline tip-toed into the stall, gently kneeling down beside the mother and taking care not to let her dress touch the ground. The horse stared back at her, indifferent to her presence despite the vulnerable newborn. _Well-handled, then._ Careful to not make sudden movements, Caroline reached out an open hand to the mother and let the mare sniff at her.

"You can name it, if you like." This time Caroline definitely jumped, as Klaus appeared right next to her.

"Stop doing that." She hissed quietly, but gratefully took the glass he offered. It was dark and promising, but before she could take a sip she mumbled out an "and that's a stupid thing to say, I could call your baby Horsey McHorseface."

That made him chuckle. Caroline tried to ignore how satisfied it made her feel. She gulped at the blood, almost missing her mouth in her hunger. When she finally lowered the glass, it was empty.

"Refill?" Klaus murmured, gently stroking over the foal's face. Caroline hummed, passing her glass back to him. In exchange, Klaus opened his palm and handed her a collection of sugar cubes. "Here - for her." He nodded to the mare. "The foal is too young."

He stood up and left the stall once more, leaving Caroline to separate the sugar cubes and offer one on a flat palm. The horse sniffed once before nuzzling in and taking the treat graciously. "So who keeps blood in a stable?" She called.

"I keep it everywhere. I find it's best to keep it on hand." His voice called back.

Caroline settled herself, feeding the horse treats until her palms were empty. As the mare lost interest and laid her head back down to rest, Caroline sighed and stood, taking one step towards the doorframe before she realised that Klaus was leaning up against it. "You look like a princess." He said, holding out the refilled glass to her.

"I'm a monster in a ballgown." She replied, taking it from him and drinking quickly again.

Klaus eyed her, noticing how her veins didn't even appear when blood slipped down her throat. Admiring just how much _control_ she had for a baby vampire. "You make a very pretty monster."

Caroline tilted her head to the side, only just recognising the ridiculousness of her attire for current activities. "What does that make you, then?"

Klaus moved, taking a step back to let her leave the stall and pinch the glass from out of her hands. "I'm the king, love." He smirked back. It felt good to have her like this, alone and too blood-high to be guarded around him. His wolf enjoyed her presence too, even if it yearned for so much more. He left her then, just long enough to place the glass in the sink as he realised that this was the closest to being agreeable that his wolf had been all day.

As he returned, kicking stray hay out of the path on route, Caroline was just locking up the stall. For the first time since she entered the party, she felt satiated. The mare glanced up once again as the lock slid into place and Klaus clicked his tongue at her in goodbye. "She's so beautiful." Caroline sighed, turning away and beginning the walk back to the manor with Klaus by her side. "Tell me about them."

Klaus laced his hands behind his back and watched the still shadows of the garden as they strolled through it. "Well, we have five horses. Three mares, one stallion, and the foal. We've had horses since before we were turned and we look after them, occasionally bringing another into the fold so they don't interbreed."

With that, a silence grew between them. "That's it?" Caroline asked.

"We co-exist. They are as much a part of the family as I am. Do you ride?"

Then Caroline felt a shift in her jaws, almost like she was hungry _again_. "When I was younger, not for a few years." She pulled the shawl around herself more tightly still, now approaching the human smokers loitering outside the party.

Klaus stopped her with a hand on the small of her back. "Come upstairs - I have something to show you."

Caroline glanced at him, but seeing no malicious intent in his features gave a quick nod. In truth, she was grateful for the excuse to avoid the mix of human scents which were causing a stir in her stomach even this far away. _God Caroline, get it together._

Instead, Klaus steered her through the front door and up the stairs, somehow avoiding the stares and whispering of gossiping townsfolk. They reached an empty landing and then followed his lead down a long corridor and into a side room.

Stepping in, Caroline could still hear the faint music from downstairs. The room was all dark wood and gold finishes, with large sprawling canvases framed along the walls. "So." Caroline hummed, taking in her surroundings. That delicious spiced leather scent was becoming all too familiar, and in this room it was _everywhere_. It was intoxicating and caused her hair to stand on end. "What did you wanna show me?"

"One of my passions." Klaus spoke softly, not meeting her eyes as he guided her over to the largest canvas. It was a classical piece, old-looking and portrayed a huge black horse galloping through a woodland scene. It was by both scale and beauty, breathtaking.

"Wow." She gasped. Caroline was no art geek, but her interest had been dulled by an upbringing in state schools where classical art wasn't exactly cool. Still, she found herself wanting a closer look. "Impressive, I take it the curators at the Louvre aren't on vervain?"

Once again, Klaus chuckled next to her and let his hand fall away from her waist. His wolf growled at the loss of contact, but it was nothing too violent. After all, she was alone with him and his wolf could agree that that was a consolation. "Yeah well that's their mistake."

Caroline smiled a little, playing with her bracelet. "And what about this?" She held it out for him. "Where did you steal this from?"

He smirked at her acknowledgement, feeling his wolf's elation. _Yes. Mine._ Klaus took the opportunity to run a finger along the sparkling gems as his eye bore into hers. "Well that's a long story. But rest assured it was worn by a princess almost as beautiful at you."

Caroline shook her head softly and looked away, rolling her eyes and immediately feeling a stab of guilt for it. Her gaze fell to the table in front of her, where scraps of parchment and flat-pressed papers were strewn in the messiest of displays. She let her fingers dance along the edge of them, all expertly done in different mediums. Down in the right hand corner of each came the same artists mark. "Wait a second, did you do these?"

"Yeah." Klaus murmured. "Actually one of my landscapes is hanging at the Hermitage, not that anyone would notice." And then, "Have you been?"

The blonde sighed. "I've never really been anywhere."

"I'll take you." He said, turning to face her. "Wherever you want. Rome? Paris?" His heart fluttered at the smile which broke out on her face, wolf getting rowdy at the thought of them together for weeks and months. "Tokyo?"

She laughed a little, rolling her eyes again but this time in jest. "Wow. It must be really nice to just snap your fingers and get whatever you want."

Klaus grinned and shifted some of his art to make neater piles. "Not everything." He replied as he caught her eye.

Caroline paused, before his movements spurred a wave of his scent to drown her. Instantly her throat burned, vicious and unwavering. But he was looking at her with questioning eyes already, and so she croaked out the question she'd been meaning to ask since she walked in. "Why did you save me?"

"We've been over this. I fancy you."

"I don't believe you."

"But you will." He replied. The dimples on his cheeks tempted her as to touch, but instead Caroline just stood and tried to calm the fire in her throat.

"You know you sound a lot like a serial killer."

"I am a serial killer." Klaus laughed, stepping closer to her. He felt her discomfort along with… _pain?_

"Don't come any closer." Caroline spoke through gritted teeth, because even with a few feet of space between them her fangs threatened to drop. Through thin skin she could smell the blood in his veins, and it was _unreal_."So that's it? You like playing with people before you kill them?"

Still he took another step forwards. His wolf and his own consciousness urging him forwards. He could see it was affecting her in some way, but Klaus was in the habit to pushing things until they broke. He was sure of it now - she was definitely hurting. "I'm not playing with you."

"Yes you are!" Caroline almost shouted, stepping until her back hit the wall. "Can't you just tear my heart out and get it over with?"

"I don't intend to kill you, Caroline." Klaus shook his head, a little confused as to why she'd even think that was a possibility. "Besides, heart tearing is a bit messy for you."

No smile this time as the blonde was too busy trying not to breath. "Fine. So tell me, what could you possibly want with me? I can't get you Elena, I can't be a hybrid, I can't even bring Tyler back. I am useless to you." By now he was only a foot or so away, and her throat was positively on fire. Caroline rubbed over her face with soft palms. "What do you want with me?"

"Tyler has gone?" Klaus asked with a little too much interest. One of his hybrids _running away._ How interesting. An issue for the morning. "Oh, what a shame." He spoke, sounding anything but remorseful. His wolf was close now, right up against his skin and positively begging him to give over.

To placate the wolf or maybe just to push her buttons, Klaus placed both his hands on the wall behind her and boxed her in. "Well Caroline, I want to know you, take you to new places, maybe make you breakfast a few more times." He smiled, but the blonde just turned away and refused to meet his eyes. "But if it makes you feel better, I give you my word that I will keep you out of this doppelgänger business."

"Seriously, stop." Caroline spat, turning her head to the side but only being met with the delicious scent of his clothed wrist, the delicious memories of last night flooding back. She snapped her head back and stood up tall to meet his gaze. "You can't keep me out of it. You've tried to kill my friends. You literally killed Elena-"

"It's complicated, love." He interrupted. "But that's a bit of a falsehood. If I wanted any one of them dead, they would be. Last time I checked they were all enjoying the party downstairs."

"I just…" She struggled, breathing in nothing but him. Caroline squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to get it together. Still, the hunger cut through. "I don't get it."

"You have been treated very badly, Caroline. I'm not asking you to jump ship, or to forget about Tyler. All I'm asking is that you understand that I will not harm you." Klaus spoke, taking his opportunity to admire her up close. The curve of her lips as they parted under his words, the blush on her cheek which hadn't died down, even the lay of her eyelashes. He could feel her pain, and it did not sit well with him. "Do you understand that?" He whispered. The music from downstairs was winding down, still faint but far more relaxed now.

Klaus watched her, as she tightened her jaw but didn't reply. His hands came down to rest on the sides of her face, thumbs brushing over cheekbones. "Caroline." He murmured. Still, she resisted. Then a single vein on her face struck dark for just a second. It didn't go unnoticed. "You are hungry."

She whined, gripping into both his wrists and nodding. "Nothing will stop it." Caroline growled, throat raw. "I don't know what is happening to me."

He tilted her head back as she went pliant in his arms, looking over her as the logic ticked through his mind at a mile a minute. He had a witch on speed-dial, but she was always a last resort. "You've eaten today. More than once." Caroline whined a _yes_. She'd kept it down, too. And resisted all the humans downstairs. And even now, she made no effort to get to them. Klaus stumbled on a rough theory. "What are you hungry for, Caroline?"

But Caroline shook her head, pulling away from his touch feebly while gripping firmer still on his wrists.

Klaus grinned wide, wolf sharing his glee as they stepped closer until his front pressed up against hers. "It's me, isn't it? It's hybrid blood, love. Once you've had lobster, it's hard to go back to sardines."

She chortled, opening her eyes but starting determinedly at the ground. "That's an awful analogy."

"You're hungry, Caroline."

"It won't go away." She whispered, an almost iron grip on his wrists, keeping them as close to her nose as possible. Even his touch helped a little, cooling the skin underneath his fingertips.

"So ask." Klaus husked.

Caroline tried to laugh, but the stab in her throat quickly shut her up. "Ask if I can eat you?"

"It doesn't have to be me." Klaus said, though every fibre of his being said otherwise. "I don't know, maybe any hybrid would do. I'll find you a different one to sample, if you like."

The blonde shook her head, eyes shining as they met his. "I can't only drink hybrids for the rest of my life."

"No." Klaus agreed. He didn't know how to fix it, but that was a question for his witch. In the moment, he'd do just about anything to stop her - their - pain. "But when you have one who'll willingly accept your bite you shouldn't deny yourself."

Silently, Klaus pulled her out of the corner until the back of his thighs hit the table. Caroline stepped between them, gleaming eyes never leaving his. The pain in her throat was a killer now, and she doubted she could speak if she tried. Instead she let him lead her, trusting him wordlessly to fix it.

Klaus leaned up against the table until he was at her eye level, stroking his thumbs through the tears which spilled from them. "Come on. love." He murmured. "Show me your monster." Caroline resisted for just a moment, before letting her fangs drop. As Klaus ran his fingers over the dark veins under her eyes, she felt every ounce of restraint she had melt away against his skin.

"There she is." He whispered. "She's beautiful." Klaus ran a hand to the back of her head, pulling her in with ease and setting her head against his neck.

Caroline let her hands curve under his jacket, hands running around his sides as she inhaled strongly at his jugular. Her lips ghosted over his skin teasingly but before he could even get a word out, she bit. 

* * *

By the time Caroline released her jaw, she was breathing just as heavily as he was. Her throat felt completely normal but she found it difficult to convince her feet to step out of his space. And so she watched as her bite wound knit itself together in record time, smoothing over until all that was left was clear, unblemished skin.

She pushed away slowly, testing how the power which flooded through her veins felt before directing her focus on his unmoving body.

Klaus' eyes were squeezed shut, jaw tight and fingers digging in to the table under his grip so hard that the wood was splintering.

"Are you okay?" Caroline murmured, stepping back a little further.

For a minute, neither of them moved, the faint string music interrupting as it trailed from downstairs. Then Klaus slackened his grip and opened his eyes. There were dark, far darker than Caroline was used to seeing, but with a distinctive golden glow. "I'm fine, love." He grumbled, looking anything but as he stood and moved around her. "It's getting late, I'll drive you home." 

* * *

The drive was silent. Caroline had tried to look for Elena to say goodbye, but the brunette was no where to be found. She'd dropped her a text before following Klaus to the 4x4.

It wasn't until he had pulled up outside her house that he spoke. "Thank you for coming with me tonight."

Caroline sighed, glaring at the well-lit porch and inviting front door. Still he smelt delicious to her - far better than any human had ever smelled - but now she felt satiated and full. "What is happening to me?"

"I don't know, love. You're the first vampire to ever drink hybrid blood." Klaus watched as her bottom lip trembled while she avoided his gaze. The wolf in him wanted to touch and soothe, but his consciousness pressed it down once more. It had had more than enough control tonight. "Don't worry, Caroline. I give you my word that I won't let anything happen to you."

Softly, tiredly, she nodded. "What if you're all I can eat?" She whined, half joking but the tremble of her lip gave away her fear. It wouldn't be so bad in her mind - his blood was on another level - but what if she couldn't feed from him? What if he didn't let her? The memory of the intense bloodlust from just an hour ago made her wince.

"I won't be. I'll fix it. Just give me time." Klaus spoke measuredly, shutting off the engine. "Call me if you need me. The eight missed calls would imply that you found your way to my number."

Without looking, Caroline could hear the tiny smile in his voice. "It was five… Thank you for-" _the pampering, the dress, the diamonds, the blood, saving my life._ She settled on "everything."

In a flash, Klaus had made his way to her side of the car and opened the door, offering a hand down from the high vehicle. Caroline took it, given that her opposition to touching him fell away the minute she sunk her teeth in his neck.

Silently they walked up to the porch, stopping just before the front door.

"I have something for you." Klaus spoke softly, leaving a fair few feet between them.

The blonde shook her head, turning the key in the lock as she murmured back, "You've already given me a gift. More than one, actually."

"Well I aim to exceed expectations."

With the door open, Caroline turned back and took the object from his hands. It was a small, green-tinted glass bottle, without a label and _very_ 'Alice in Wonderland.' "What is this?"

"My blood." He said bluntly. Clasping his hands behind his back. "I'm going out of town for a few days and I'd like to know that you won't die a slow and painful death in my absence. Just in case."

Caroline smiled softly at that, a little taken aback but smart enough to hide it. _Interesting_. "What if I need to eat?"

"You have my number. I won't be far - and this will take the edge off until I'm back. I have a feeling it won't be as bad when I'm away though." It was a theory, but from watching her tonight he thought it a sound one. One which would be tested, regardless.

"Thank you." The blonde said, before turning and walking through the front door.

"Be safe, Caroline." She heard him say but when she turned around he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

"I have questions. But before I ask them, I will make you a deal. You answer my questions, and I leave you alive." Klaus browsed the liquor cabinet with a casual nonchalance.

The empty bar was dim as the low light of a Sunday evening washed through fogged windows. "I will not be threatened." Her voice cut through the air, haughty and more demanding than she had reason to be. "You seem to have forgotten how to bargain, Niklaus."

Klaus turned sharply. She hadn't moved from where she'd been sitting when he'd entered. In fact, she hadn't even turned around as the locked door had swung open. Perhaps he'd visited too often and become too familiar with the old witch. "Gloria." He sighed, but the silence that filled the space told him all he needed to know. "What do you want?"

Gloria's nails rapped against the table she sat at. "What are your questions? Information has a price, and I can only give you a fair one if I know what you're asking for."

"They're on mating. Werewolf, mostly."

Suddenly Gloria was on her feet, a sharp intake of breath had filled her lungs as her eyes caught his for the first time.

"If you enjoy having a fully functioning jaw, I'd suggest you keep your remarks to a minimum." Klaus snapped back, digging his nails into the wooden bar and leaving deep grooves behind.

"Interesting." Gloria hummed, slowly lowering herself back into a seat at his reaction. She could hardly contain a knowing smirk. "My price is a favour. There may come a time when I need a hybrid on my side."

Klaus grabbed a bottle before taking a few steps over to sit opposite her. "Very well."

"What do you need to know?" She said plainly.

Klaus sighed and tightened his jaw as he glanced around the room.

"We are alone. No one can hear. You have my word." She encouraged.

Klaus knew as much - the herbs burning on the table, the strong scent of bay, the looming haze of her spells catching the corners of the bar all told him so. "Hypothetical situation. One of my hybrids has been marked by a vampire."

Gloria's eyes did not leave his, and she gave nothing away. Her heart beat at the same rate, her breathing didn't falter. Klaus continued, "He has not marked her back. The vampire is experiencing intense bloo-"

"-She craves you." Gloria interrupted as she reached her fingertips out to play with the flame of the candle in front of her. "The way a human mate would crave your presence or touch or scent-"

"-she craves _my hybrid_." Klaus assured.

Gloria paused in her actions, setting a hand down on the table. "You never could lie to me, Niklaus. Don't start now."

Klaus said nothing and instead reached for the bottle, pouring a heavy measure into a glass.

With her suspicions all but confirmed, Gloria continued. "The vampire craves all of those things, but craves your blood above all. What better way to ensure a fulfilled mating mark?"

Sipping from the glass, Klaus sat back in his seat, feigning relaxation. "My question is how do _they_ stop the bloodlust?"

"The same way any werewolf stops the mating craving. Why are you here? There is nothing I can tell you that you do not already know. I know you have studied this, Niklaus."

"Humour me."

Gloria broke eye contact. "Fine. Bite her. Or kill her."

Klaus hummed in agreement, though his wolf rumbled at the idea of hurting her. "Hmm. And if _my hybrid_ were to separate himself from the situation?"

"The longer the mating goes unfulfilled, the stronger the symptoms."

"List them."

"I imagine they'll present differently for a vampire-hybrid mating. But traditionally mutual yearning, yielding, shared emotions, rut, madness, death."

"Pain." He summarised.

" _Pain_." She agreed. "For both. An unfulfilled mating does not end well for anyone. You've seen it yourself if I am not mistaken."

Indeed he had, toying with werewolf matings and dabbling in experimentation more than once over the centuries, he'd tested just how much pain a mate could withstand until the other went mad.

Like a shadow in his head, he could feel Caroline. She'd been a stable but growing presence that he'd experienced since he'd gained the bite mark on his wrist. He felt her - probably ten times a day now - in the looming, faint and foreign emotions in his mind. It was the only reason he'd managed to continue driving across state lines, feeling her content and happy even in his absence.

Klaus clicked his teeth together. "How long do we have?" He muttered, as he downed the last of his scotch and set the glass back on the table.

"Mating is not set magic, I cannot predict the ways fate will push you together." Gloria shook her head before she stood up and headed back behind the bar. "I cannot tell give you all the answers you seek, Niklaus. You are the first of your kind and thus there is no precedent for this kind of mating. I would suggest that you do not try and overcome this magic. They say the pain of an unfulfilled mating is quite unbearable."

Klaus stood too. "Tell me how long I have."

"For an educated guess I'd need the girl, too."

He smirked then. "See, I know that exposing an easily killed mate would be a rather bad idea."

Gloria hummed, offering the echo of a smile. "Then I suppose you'll find out. In time."

Klaus nodded, before he began to walk towards the door of the bar. As he gripped the handle, he called back to her. "I have one more question, a piece of homework as it were." Gloria's eyes met his, a slim eyebrow raised. "I need you to find a way to make her immortal." And with that, he was gone.

* * *

It was a quarter to eleven by the time Klaus stepped back into his New Orleans bedroom. The party was only just beginning and music and cheers echoed up from the streets outside. It stirred something in him, some kind of nostalgia sitting deep in his stomach. His wolf was loud now, restless and constantly disturbing his otherwise calm facade. While it refused to be understood, the wolf let its presence be known in the uncomfortable buzz under his skin.

As the door slid shut behind him, he moved quietly to sit on his bed and reached a hand under the pillow to withdraw the thin piece of material beneath. Bringing Caroline's stolen t-shirt to his face, Klaus inhaled its scent and finally felt his skin settle.

It took five deep, growling breaths of her in his lungs before his phone shattered the new found peace. He answered immediately, catching it mid-ring.

"Hello, love." He growled, far huskier than he had intended but with the scent of her in his lungs he couldn't find time to care.

Caroline seemed startled by his punctuality. "Klaus."

Klaus could hear nothing but her voice, no background noise, no music, no breathing. Just her, _alone_. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He crooned, lying back on his bed and pulling her t-shirt to lay on his chest.

"You've given me a shadow. I'd like rid of her." Caroline spoke carefully, and Klaus wondered just how many times she'd practiced this conversation in her head.

"How observant of you. I was hoping it'd take a little longer for her to catch your attention." He should have known, Caroline was smart. Of course he'd have a smart mate.

Caroline chortled, "She's crouching in a bush outside of my house."

"Well, don't be rude. Invite her in - I think you'd get on rather well." They would too, he'd been exceptionally picky in deciding which hybrid would be her bodyguard.

"She is not coming into my house." Caroline snapped. "You're going to tell her to leave me alone."

He couldn't help the smile which crept into his voice. "And why would I do that?"

"You know you're being like, really creepy?"

It was his time to chortle, "She'll only be with you until I'm home, love."

Caroline was silent for a few seconds, before sighing. "And when will that be, exactly?"

A low tug in his chest alerted him that his wolf might not be content after all. He pulled her t-shirt up to his nose once more and took a breath. "Soon." He breathed. "Miss me?"

"What did the witch tell you?" She dodged.

"Not nearly enough. How are you?" He asked, gazing out of the wide window at the lights of the city below.

"Stop dodging my questions." Caroline said bluntly.

"Stop dodging mine." He rebutted. He was curious, he hadn't felt her in his head for at least a few hours.

"I'm fine." She sighed quietly. "I feel okay." And then a few seconds of silence later, "It's not pleasant."

"How bad?" Klaus sat up, brow furrowing at the ongoing tug in his chest. Once again he took a breath of her scent, but still the tug persisted.

"A three, maybe. Worse right now." She said. The _worse now that I can hear your voice_ went unsaid, but Klaus could feel it tighten his chest all the while.

"Drink the vial." He breathed, wondering just what it'd take to bring his wolf under control. Would it be safe to let it out here, thousands of miles away from her? Or would it run straight for her? Would he even try to stop it? "Then drink your shadow."

Caroline gasped. "I'm not touching her, Klaus! Now, your turn. Tell me about the witchy things?"

 _Witchy things._ A smile broke onto his face once more. "She'll look into it." He said finally.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Are you lying?"

"No." _Not technically a lie - just withholding information_ he reasoned.

Down the phone, he could hear her sigh as fabric shifted. Was she in bed, or lying on her sheets like he was? Klaus could hardly stop his thoughts spiralling, picturing her alone in her room, listening to his voice.

"Your witch is worse than mine." Her voice cut his thoughts short. A few seconds of silence passed, before "when are you coming home?"

"Tomorrow." He decided.

"Okay."

"Okay." Klaus repeated, taking another breath of her, before pushing off the bed and heading towards the door. After all, his work in New Orleans was done. The sooner he was on the road, the better.

"Well… goodnight." Caroline spoke quietly.

"Goodnight, love." 

* * *

Klaus had hardly stepped over the threshold when she pounced. He caught under her thighs, wrapping them around his waist as her fangs sank deep into his neck. Klaus managed to kick the door shut and press her back to the hallway wall before the rumbling growl escaped his lips, tearing through the house and the woods beyond. It was lucky that she lived in such a secluded spot, but he couldn't find the time to be thankful when her teeth felt so good in his neck.

He held her there for a good few minutes, his own forehead pressed into the wall too as his wild growls sounded with every exhale. The scent of her was everywhere, sweet and all-consuming. His eyes squeezed shut as her limbs tightened around him, pressing chest to chest while his palms held the bare skin of her thighs.

The wound in his neck didn't even sting as she sucked, tongued over the broken skin and drank messily. Indeed, Klaus couldn't even think about how good it felt to have her like this, desperate and moaning under his fingertips. Instead, his mind was solely focused on reigning in the wolf coaxing him to _bite_. His own fangs pressed against his gums, but his jaw clamped shut in a feeble attempt to stop what seemed like the inevitable.

Then, just as quickly as she had appeared, Caroline was gone with only a door slam as proof of her presence. With her scent dissipating, Klaus found himself stumbling in her direction.

He opened the door to her bedroom in a daze and was hit by the intensity of it once again. It took a second to hone in on her, slumped at the end of her bed with her head in her hands.

"Caroline." Klaus murmured her name like a prayer, absentmindedly wiping away the wetness at his neck with his hand. Steaks of red covered his fingers, leftover residue from where his wound was already beginning to heal.

"Don't." Caroline hissed, voice thick. She didn't move, but the deep sinking feeling which washed over him was sign enough of her feelings..

Klaus closed the door before stepping over to crouch in front of her. "Don't be upset love."

"What have you done to me?!" She hissed, fingers pulling at her hair while her eyes remained squeezed shut. Her throat was on fire, and even shaping words _hurt_. She was quiet for a few seconds, before offering a whispered "I'm sorry, that's rude-"

"-It's fine, love. You're hungry." Klaus cut in, wrapping his clean hand around her wrist. The morning sunshine was streaming in through her bedroom window, shining off the blonde in her hair.

Caroline almost smiled, letting him pull her wrist down and finally meeting his eyes. The corners of her mouth were still marked with his blood, but her face showed no sign of her monster underneath. Her hands fell to her knees as her hair fell in front of her face. "I was fine until you showed up."

"I know." Klaus murmured. He could feel the pain, secondhand and not his own. Tempting fate, Klaus let his blood smeared hand reach for her face. He moved slowly, giving her plenty of time to pull away before his fingers touched at the blood around her mouth. For a second, neither moved. Then, with a stuttering exhale, Caroline turned her head and licked at his thumb.

Klaus shifted closer slowly, like a hunter approaching a wild animal. He pressed his thumb onto her tongue, letting her wrap her lips around it as her eyes fluttered shut. Caroline sucked gently, hands shifting to wrap around Klaus' wrist. Only a thin henley sat between her skin and the mating mark she left. Klaus wondered if she could feel the electricity he did.

Caroline's brow furrowed, breaking his focus on the tingling in his wrist and the roaring wolf underneath his skin. "Klaus?" She whimpered, tightening her grip on his wrist and licking at the smears on his hand. "What is happening to me? Why can't I stop-"

"-Eating me?" He finished gruffly.

Caroline pushed his clean hand away when she was done, leaning back and trying to put some distance between them. "Why is it so strong? The bloodlust."

As the flames of arousal died down, the sinking feeling returned to Klaus. She was… _upset?_ "Phrase it however best pleases you, Caroline." Klaus muttered, standing up to his full height to tower over her. "You are the first vampire to ever taste a hybrid. There is no precedent here."

Her wild eyes met his, pleading. The burning in her throat was hardly contained, ripping through her whole body and setting her skin on fire. "Klaus, please. I can't stop myself, it hurts so bad."

Klaus hated this, hated the secondhand emotions he was feeling, so separate and foreign to his own. The itch in his own throat was irrelevant next to the pain she felt. "I will find a way to fix it, love. Now, drink." He spoke gently, sitting down next to her.

"I hate this." She echoed his thoughts, once again putting her head in her hands.

Klaus watched the sun dance through her blonde hair for a second, before gently laying a hand on her shoulder. "Drink, Caroline. While the witch is working you will drink from me when you need to."

Caroline didn't move an inch, but he could feel her unease. "In exchange for?" She whispered accusingly.

"Nothing."

It was then that she sat up and turned to face him, eyes wide and questioning. "You don't do things for nothing."

"No, I don't." He agreed.

"So I don't have to go on a date with you?"

Klaus chuckled, reaching for her. "Would you agree if I asked?" He smirked.

He never got a reply. The second his hand touched her hair, Caroline pounced, pushing his shoulders until his back hit the bed. Her thighs bracketed his hips, and Klaus caught just a glimpse of the veins on her face before she buried her head into his neck.

With a deep exhale as her fangs re-pierced his skin, Klaus wrapped both arms around her back. "Drink, love."


	5. Chapter 5

The carpet was quiet beneath her bare toes as Caroline pulled herself off her crinkled bedsheets. Her blinds were open, letting in a cool draft and streams of sunlight. Outside, the crisp air shook the leaves, the delicate scarlets of autumn tinging the landscape with vibrant colour. It was as beautiful a morning as any, but the first chill of fall had her shivering even though the temperature didn't bother her cold skin anymore.

For just a second each morning, she liked to pretend that everything was normal. For just a second, she could enjoy the idea of senior year, homework and her boyfriend. For just a second, Caroline didn't have a monster lurking beneath her skin.

But all too soon that second was up and the weight of her new reality sank through. A young face she'd never grow out of, a supernatural world which was sexy and dangerous in equal measures, and a boyfriend whose bite almost killed her for good. If he was still her boyfriend, given his spontaneous travel plans. Tyler made her want to go back to bed, because as painful as it was to be abandoned without so much as a conversation beforehand, god did she miss him. She missed the flirting and the date nights and always having someone to impress. She missed having someone to laugh with, and she missed the sex. Good god, she missed the filthy, rough, touch-starved, tearing sex which left them both boneless.

Sighing deeply, she stilled to listen for life in the house. She was met with only silence - not surprising, since her mom had been at the police station every waking moment since the Originals started dropping bodies all over town.

With every inhale she could smell the lingering scent of Klaus in the air. It was particularly strong where he'd been pressed up against her bedsheets last night, the echoes of his gentle growls etched in her memory. Caroline's nose wasn't great - certainly not a patch on Stefan or Damon's, honed by many years of tracking. Usually she struggled to distinguish people beyond their species, but that morning it was clear Klaus was everywhere. The hybrid scent was distinctive enough - dark and sharp and deadly - but of course Klaus was so much more than a hybrid. His scent was _everything_.

The spiced musk was always delicious, but the memory of having his blood on her tongue while she breathed him in had her head swimming. Sharp arousal shot through her veins. Of all the side effects of being a vampire, no one warned her how _horny_ she'd be. It made a change from feeling hungry though, and Caroline was grateful that her throat wasn't giving her the fiery, stabbing pain which was becoming closely tied to Klaus' presence.

Glancing at her phone, she ruled out sinking back into her sheets and slipping a hand down her shorts in lieu of getting to school on time. Instead, set on coffee and a sit down with herself to wrap her head around her current hybrid-only dietary situation, Caroline quickly dressed herself for the day and padded into the kitchen.

The "good morning" offered made her startle.

She turned sharply, glaring at a well-muscled back covered in fitted navy fabric. "Klaus!" She squeaked. It'd been at least six months since someone had managed to sneak up on her.

Klaus hummed without glancing up from the newspaper he was skimming, even as she moved around the kitchen.

Caroline pinched a mug from the cupboard and filled it with black coffee hot off the hob. _Great, so now he's making himself coffee._ "Did you even leave last night?" She hissed, cursing herself for even entertaining the thought that her own home might be a safe space from the supernatural shitshow.

Humming gently, Klaus turned the page without so much as a glance in her direction. "Grumpy in the mornings. Good to know."

Ignoring the further rumble of arousal that his absentminded tone spurred, Caroline turned around, leaning back against the counter. "I didn't know we were starting a breakfast club?"

Klaus looked up then, dimples on show at the bite in her words. "Hungry, love?" He held her gaze for a beat, and Caroline registered that his eyes were back to hazel, so different from the liquid gold on show when she'd pulled her fangs from his neck last night.

Realising that she might have left it just a moment too late to be subtle, Caroline rolled her eyes. It didn't feel like hunger. In fact, she felt dizzy and blood-high, which should be impossible given the ten hours she'd slept since her feed. Not sated, though. Definitely not sated. _If in doubt, deflect._ "Why are you pretending like this isn't weird?"

Amused, he shut the newspaper and sipped his mug casually. Caroline tried to pretend that the obvious shift of his biceps under his henley wasn't distracting. _You're a taken woman, Caroline. Tyler has fantastic arms._ "I can think of worse things than having your teeth in my neck."

"That doesn't answer the question." She hissed, pressing her thighs together involuntarily. She could think of worse things than his body pressed against hers, all hard muscle and soft touches.

Klaus eyed her, gaze dragging down to her bare sternum, then her t-shirt and finally pausing where her plaid skirt finished mid-thigh. It spurred the butterflies in her stomach into flight. It'd been a long time since any boy except Tyler had looked at her with that kind of hunger. Watching a magnetic being darken his eyes for her felt indecent. Caroline was no saint and certainly wasn't a stranger to a man's bed, but most of those experienced paled in comparison to the heat that Klaus' gaze made her feel. She studied the way he wet his lips before meeting her eyes once again. "Because I don't have to." He spoke quietly.

Caroline held his gaze, ignoring the way her skin tingled and the heat rose across her chest. The throbbing, slow burn of arousal crept through her veins, making her shift on her feet. For a split second, it felt like he could see right through the clothes she was wearing. Something about that self-satisfied smirk and the glitter behind his eyes. "You know something." She guessed.

With that, Klaus stood, circling around the island until he was directly infront of her, rolling up the sleeves of his henley and exposing more skin than should be allowed. "I'm old, Caroline. I know many things." He teased with a raised eyebrow.

She didn't shy away from his smirk, even when their height difference was made so apparent as he moved closer. Caroline crossed her arms enjoying the way his gaze dropped to her chest. _Teasing goes both ways._ "Isn't it kinda creepy to be hanging around a teenage girl, then?"

"Careful, sweetheart." He uttered with a grin, sunshine from the window making his skin glow as he relaxed back on the counter opposite. "I'm probably not the creature you want to offend."

As much as she enjoyed the shivers his words cast over her skin, curiosity got the better of her. "Is it the witch? Did she call?"

"Witches love, they're good, but they're not instant." Klaus paused, following the frown which seemed permanently etched in her features. "Give her time. She'll come up with answers for you."

Lifting her chin, Caroline tilted her head. Her eyes narrowed when his expression didn't change, still an obnoxious, smirking, self-satisfied, _hot_ hybrid. "Then what is it?"

Her breath hitched as he leaned over, boxing her in with both hands on the counter behind her. He was close now, his scent heavy in the air and intoxicating in her lungs. Eyes wide, Caroline took in the tiny space he'd left between them, imagining the small shift of her arm it'd take to run fingertips through his hair, pull him in and taste his lips. She could feel his breath fan across her temple, the heat of him stood in sharp contrast to the chill of her skin. Caroline tried to hide the shiver, but the smile in his voice let her know that she had been caught. "Are you hungry, Caroline?"

 _Be brave, Caroline._ With a deep breath of him, she met his eyes so close that she could focus on very little else. "No." She breathed, perfectly still even though her monster was screaming for her to touch, the throbbing need at her core growling for him. "I don't need blood." Her voice was steady too, almost convincing.

 _Almost_. Klaus eyed her lips. "Anything else then, sweetheart?" He murmured, ducking down until his face was level with hers. "Is there anything else you need that I can provide?"

All she could feel was the heat of him and her monster pressing right up against her skin, demanding and unrelenting, _yes yes yes yes._ Breath hitching in her throat, Caroline felt her arousal tangle in her stomach as he pressed closer still, chest almost touching hers until the lace of her bra rubbed up against her nipples in a spine-tingling way which made her gasp. The subsequent moan she stifled felt wrong. _Horny, check. Hot guy, definite check._ But while all her instincts told her to reach out and taste, Caroline wouldn't. Not with Klaus, and definitely not while she could still call Tyler her boyfriend. She shook her head sharply, a hand pushing on his peck.

He went easily, taking a step away and weaving his hands behind his back. "Are you sure?" In the light of the sunshine, his eyes were almost black, but his face revealed nothing.

Caroline brushed past to shove her mug in the sink, resolve melting the longer she took in his cheekbones and hungry gaze. "I'm fine. Thanks for stopping by but I've gotta get to school."

"Far be it for me to make you late. See you later, love." She could hear the smirk in his voice. Her brow furrowed at how nonchalant he could be while she was _hot_ , turned on beyond measure with nothing more than his scent and a few quick words as a cause.

Caroline turned back around, but he was already gone.

If she shifted back to her bed, gathered up her skirt and pressed quick fingers between her legs, that was none of his business. When she came with glowing gold eyes on her mind, she convinced herself that she'd imagined the howl in the distance.

* * *

Later that day as the warning bell sounded the end of lunch block, Caroline closed her locker door with a sigh. "Klaus!" She squeaked for a second time that day, jolting to attention at the figure it revealed.

"Hello, love." He dimpled, all dark eyes and lean muscle.

Klaus' presence certainly wasn't going unnoticed in the hallways, with just about every hot-blooded female (and a fair few males) in the corridor ogling. This was not the low-key day which Caroline had in mind. "You're here. At my school." The 'I literally just saw you this morning' was said with a raised eyebrow and a tight jaw _._ He looked art teacher hot, leaning up against the lockers with a coffee in his hand and a confidence so rarely seen in high school hallways. _Magnetic_ , Caroline thought as she glanced around at the entourage of onlookers trying to be subtle in their interest. _  
_  
Once again, her frustration seemed to amuse him. "Well observed." He muttered, keeping his focus solely on her. "You were late?"

"Car trouble." She muttered, feeling the flush before it tinged her cheeks. _Surely he hadn't stuck around. Surely._ But his eyes and the curve of his lips said otherwise. Caroline couldn't afford to make a scene right now, especially not when the whole school was talking about the mysterious reasoning behind Tyler taking off. Lowkey was how this week had to go, and arguing publicly with Mystic Fall's newest smoke show was _not_ lowkey. With a tightening of her jaw and a withering look, Caroline turned on her heels and went to walk herself to AP Calculus. It took two seconds before his hand curved around her wrist and she was tugged back around to find his face far closer than before. Thank god the melting pot of teenage boys and their pungent deodorants masked most of the delicious scent of him, because the dark glittering of his eyes alone had arousal twisting in her gut.

"You're not a good liar." He whispered, grinning as he slid his fingertips to tangle with hers with a knowing smile. Caroline felt her jaw drop, pulling away her hand with a huff and an unwitting shiver at the memory of those fingers between her thighs just a few hours ago. When she turned this time, he didn't stop her. Caroline made it three hallways over before Elena caught up with her.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" Elena snapped with a furrowed brow, pulling Caroline to walk in tow. They had AP Calc together, but Caroline wasn't keen on company. She hugged her textbooks tight against her frame and gave Elena a look which said as much, but Elena just walked faster still to keep up. "Why were you talking to Klaus?"

"I wasn't talking to Klaus, Elena. He was talking to me. I was ignoring him." Caroline rolled her eyes and wished the ground would swallow her up. She practically dived into the classroom, throwing her bag down and slumping in her seat.

Elena sat in front of her as a few other classmates trickled in. She turned around in her seat, dark eyes wide with concern. "Have you told Bonnie about this? Or Stefan? For god's sake, have you told Tyler?"

That stirred some kind of annoyance in Caroline's chest, not only because her life was none of Bonnie nor Stefan's business, but her relationship with Tyler was certainly not a topic to be judged by Elena of all people. Still, best to keep the peace. "Hard to tell him something when he doesn't answer my calls."

"So this is a jealousy thing? You're with Klaus to make Tyler jealous?"

"I'm not with Klaus!" Caroline hissed, leaning over to keep the conversation between them private. She knew she'd lost when Stefan eyed them from the doorway. He slouched in, sitting next to Elena with a nod.

Elena shared a glance with Stefan who also turned in his chair to face them. "Between the fancy bracelets and the midday check ins, I'd say he seems pretty comfortable with you."

 _Great, so I guess Stefan's in this conversation now._ "I didn't ask for them!" Caroline snapped, leaning back and as far away from them both as possible. A quick glance at the clock assured her that soon the conversation would be interrupted by the final bell.

"I know that but-" Elena started.

"But what, Elena? What are you trying to say?" Caroline snapped, baring her teeth enough that Stefan put a hand on her desk in warning.

Elena recoiled, sharing yet another look with Stefan.

"I just… I just want you to be careful, Care. Klaus is manipulative, he'll do anything to get what he wants-" Elena spoke quietly as the final bell rung out and Mr Carman strode into the room with the air of someone who has been in the profession a decade too many.

The red hot coils burned in Caroline's chest and she had half a mind to lunge for Elena's throat. The frustration was intense, fast and all encompassing, making her fingernails dig in to the desk beneath her hands. "And you think that's you." She spat, hissing quietly enough to not be told off. "Because of course no one could ever actually be interested in me. They all just want you. You don't even have to tell me, Elena. I've heard this one before."

Elena pouted, brows furrowing and somewhere deep inside Caroline knew she'd have to apologise for that rash comment at some point, but right now all she felt is irrational anger. "That's not what I'm saying." Elena whispered.

"This conversation is over." Caroline snapped, still feeling the boiling of her blood.

* * *

Just outside the high school, Klaus hung up the phone with a growl. Trying to control the all-consuming rage he so frequently felt, he made a bee line for the woods, his monster scraping against his skin. _Some witches just don't know how to stay dead._

* * *

Later that night, Caroline shuffled up the front porch stairs of Bonnie's home, bag in hand, before she stopped dead in the doorway. Groaning, she opened the front door and gazed at the party. "I didn't realise that a 'girls night in' included you."

Stefan, Damon, Bonnie, Elena, Alaric and Jeremy all gazed back at her.

Damon smirked from his reclined position on Bonnie's couch. "I love a slumber party! Gossiping, pillowfights and short shorts - it's a shame you're here."

"Sorry Care, it's the only way I knew you'd come." Bonnie sighed, turning back to the plethora of books which were lying on her coffee table.

Half in the mind to just turn around and go home, Caroline had had just about enough of other people's company for one day - the irritability had lingered, and she hadn't even had a minute to work out what it was for. "Seriously, why are we all here? What's going on?"

"Well Caroline, we have an infestation of Originals trying to murder your best friend, leaving a slew of drained bodies in their wake, and if we don't move fast, we'll be drowning in hybrids before Christmas." Jeremy said, jaw tight. Caroline didn't move from the doorway, letting the shared looks between the other members of the party speak for themselves.

It was Alaric who finally broke the silence. "It's time to kill Klaus."


	6. Chapter 6

It was a few days later as she drove through the back streets of Mystic Falls that Caroline finally had time to think. It was a quiet night - light showers had left the forest muted and the roads empty. Yet Caroline's thoughts swept at one hundred miles an hour, and the gentle hum of the engine did little to distract her from them.

Since that evening at Bonnie's, Caroline had endured a few non-stop days. Each morning, she'd wake and find Klaus in her kitchen, happy to let her feed from him in exchange for a few short, sleep-rumbled replies to his small talk. Then she'd head off to school. Bar the hybrid-only diet she was keeping, nothing out of the ordinary there, nor with the plethora of afternoon activities she still had to orchestrate, from prom committee on a Tuesday to Thursday cheer practice. In the evening, the gang gather at the Salvatore mansion to fine tune the plan. Tomorrow night, Alaric would dagger Kol and it'd all be over.

Yet as she drove the twenty minutes home on Thursday night, the anxiety building inside Caroline had her pulling a right into a lay-by on a dirt road. Her heart threatened to pound out of her chest. For a long time after Katherine had turned her, she hadn't felt her own heartbeat. Since Klaus had come to town, it seemed to be a constant sensation that she couldn't get accustomed too. She replayed Monday night's conversation a few times in her head and tried to slow her breathing. It was a little past ten and the road was silent as she cut the engine.

Setting her forehead on the wheel, Caroline tried to compartmentalise. Her friends wanted to kill Klaus. Of course they did - how could she have let herself forget the foreboding pit in her stomach every time a new threat against Elena emerged. The list of people hellbent on destroying her friend group seemed never-ending.

She couldn't help but feel a little pissed that they hadn't told her in advance about their latest plot to destroy the Originals, having already bound them with Elena's blood in the ball. Sharp pangs of irritation flared in her chest at the memory of Stefan as he tried to explain their reasons for keeping her in the dark. _Because she was too close, because it'd be more convincing, because the less people who knew, the better._

Caroline hadn't bought it, but had bit her tongue anyway. It was typical of them to leave her out until there was no one else for the job. And yet a few nights ago, she'd agreed to play their bait again. Something about the way Elena's wide eyes watching Matt lean up against the fireplace as Bonnie paced had weighed heavy on her. They were her friends. Life-long, diapers to drinking, seem-some-crazy-shit friends. Even if they had been particularly inconsiderate of her feelings as of late, she'd protect them with everything she had.

Still, as she sat in the lay-by she couldn't settle the pounding of her heart. This time it wasn't some anonymous stranger threatening their peace, it was Klaus. Klaus who had appeared in her kitchen that morning, who brought her coffee before Model UN and mentioned in passing having to babysit his little brother. Klaus who let her bite him without hesitation, who went out of his way to make sure that she was sated with the sweetest blood she'd ever tasted. Klaus who'd saved her life just a few weeks back, even if he was the one to put it in danger in the first place.

Caroline owed him. And even if he was an invasive creep, he was keeping her alive for now.

Call it self preservation or call it repaying a debt, but with a deep sigh Caroline restarted the engine and pulled back on to the road. She had a plan which would at least buy her a little time.

* * *

It was 7.30am when she returned home. The sun had risen and the bugs were already out in full force. Caroline pulled up next to her mom's Sedan, grateful that the nightshift ended at 6am which meant that Liz would be too exhausted to question why her daughter was making a stop at the house before school.

As she sighed her way through the front door of her home with the realisation that she didn't have time to nap, Caroline hitched the satchel bag a little further over her shoulder and quietly shut the front door to tiptoe down the corridor.

Once inside, she let out the breath she was holding and pressed her forehead against the wood of her bedroom door. _Jesus Caroline. Think. Think. Where can I hide it?_ She had never been the best at thinking through a plan. Planning, yes. Delivery, yes. But the aftermath had always been a weakness. The air was still but for her breath, and the cool of the aircon made her hair stand on end. _Bonnie will kill me. Elena too. And Stefan._

 _And what if it goes wrong? What if Alaric dies tonight, or Matt, or even Damon._ Could she live with herself if they did? Definitely not, but the alternative made her stomach turn too.

Caroline briefly considered stashing it in the crawlspace underneath the porch, but quickly vetoed the idea because of the spiders which called it home. Next option was somewhere more obvious. In a handbag. On top of the kitchen cabinets. Duct taped underneath her bed. All still to obv-

"Late night?" He asked from behind her.

"Klaus!" She snapped, spinning round sharply and pulling the bag to her chest.

He was sitting in the chair by her bookshelf, lounging in the sun soaked spot. "Hello, love." He smiled, and Caroline ignored the instinct to smile back. Slowly he set the pencil down and shifted a notebook she recognised as her own from his lap.

"You're in my bedroom." She stated, wide eyes taking in his relaxed posture.

"You weren't here." Klaus spoke as he stretched both arms behind his head. His gaze was firm, but in the sunlight his eyes looked so deep and sparkling. Like he could read her, her beating heart, the goosebumps along her skin, the panic setting in her veins. "I was concerned."

Caroline clutched the bag closer still. What would he do if he found it in her possession. _Would he assume that she was going to use it, that she was ready to hurt him at the next opportunity? What else could he think. Act cool, Care. Act natural._ "You shouldn't have known that I wasn't here, because you shouldn't have been in my bedroom."

"You've never minded before. Where were you, Caroline?" His eyes darkened then, twinkling as he shifted to his feet. It was _different_ seeing him in the delicate strokes of sunlight, all dark clothes and brooding against the happy yellow of her room in the morning.

The quiet shuffle of his boots on carpet snapped Caroline's tired mind to attention. "A friend's." She lied as he stopped in front of her, the mouthwatering scent of him filling her lungs. Hunger spiked in her stomach, sharp pangs of an empty feeling in her gut rising to her throat.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Who?"

Klaus' tone was light, but his gaze was murderous. "Well since Elena and Stefan were together, Bonnie, Damon, Matt alone, and Tyler nowhere to be found, who's the new friend?"

"Stalking? Really, Klaus?" She hissed, trying to keep her voice down for fear of waking her mom. Slowly, trying hard not to draw attention to it, Caroline lowered the bag to her side. She could feel her heart beating again, caught between the twisting thirst burning up her throat and the adrenaline of terror at the thought of being caught. _Would he cut her off? Would she starve to death, desiccate slowly until she wasted away to a skeleton?_ His unimpressed gaze burned into hers from one moment until the next, before eventually she snapped back, "It's none of your business."

The silence which fell only escalated the beating of her heart. It was pounding now, loud enough for them both to hear. Klaus inched forward with prowling steps. "Caroline." He stopped just in front of her, not quite touching but close enough for her to feel the heat of his body. "What's wrong?"

Caroline had to dry swallow the sound which tried to escape at the delicious memory of his blood in her mouth, his body against hers, the quiet broken only by the sound of his muffled groans. "Nothing." She whispered, leaning back against the door in an attempt to look nonchalant. There was no way she could hide the way she startled when his fingers wrapped around the fabric of the bag in her hand, though.

"You're scared." He murmured, pulling it from her.

"I'm not." She held his eyes and let go of the bag. Trying to hide it wouldn't end well, and with her mom in the house it wasn't a risk she was willing to take.

"Tell me, sweetheart." Klaus whispered back, throwing it behind him to land on her bed. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that no, she hadn't zipped the bag, and yes, its entire contents were very much visible if only he were to turn around. Still, his eyes remained locked on hers as he purred an "I can help."

She felt the terror spike in her chest, lungs tight with the thought of the car crash she was about to see in slow motion. As she met his eyes once more, she stifled a gasp at how close he was and searched her mind for a plan. There was no way she could move it without him noticing, and she'd never beat him speed wise. Maybe she could keep his eyes on her. Take off her shirt and ask for a bite. _Jesus Christ Caroline no! Just get him out. Get him out. Get him out right now._

"Stop pushing, Klaus." She pushed him away with no malice, just far enough away to create room for her to breath.

Still, he caught her wrist and Caroline felt something dark stir in her besides the fear and hunger - something vicious. "Tell me who you were with or I'll find out myself." Klaus growled.

She swiftly pulled her skin out of his reach, ignoring the gentleness of his fingers as she spat back, "Are you threatening me?"

"I'm promising. And the consequences could be quite unfortunate for your mysterious friend."

For a second she hesitated, the hunger for what he could give was sharp and intense, and it'd been a full day since her last feed. Still, with another glance over his shoulder, she shifted a step to the right and yanked open the door for him. "Get out."

"Now now." He spoke quietly, eyes narrowing. "Let's not make a scene with the Sheriff home."

Caroline faltered for a second, mouth opening for words which never came. It struck her then, facing a dark gaze and such casual threat of violence, that this was the Klaus everyone else saw. The one standing in front of her was a myth and a legend and a nightmare all wrapped in to one. It was a very different person from the man who'd saved her, taken her to meet his horses and made her breakfast.

The way he made no move to hide his irritation, showed no intention of placating the fear, looked as though he would burn the world should he not get his way should have frightened her. He should have frightened her. Yet, staring down the monster, Caroline found the idea of him turning around far more terrifying.

Still, her own irritation was brewing. Firstly in that he was in her room, alone. Secondly, in that he was threatening her in her own house. While he'd given her no reason to believe in the threat, she still needed him gone instead of being a half turn away from disaster. Thank god for drama class. "Klaus, get out of my house right now."

"Or what?" He growled, moving closer again until he was just inches away. "Come on, aren't you hungry, love?"

Yes. Another quick glance over his shoulder gave her the strength to muster an eye roll. "Not for you. Get out. Now."

For a second she took in the tightening of his jaw and the hollow feeling in her chest grew exponentially. In the next, he was gone.

With a sigh, Caroline shut the door behind him and yanked her curtains closed quickly. She grabbed the white oak stake from the bag on her bed and re-evaluated her hiding spots for it. While frantic eyes danced over her furniture trying to find a fix, no matter how temporary, they fell upon the old notebook Klaus had left.

Taking in the blonde curls and gentle lines he'd drawn for her, she knew she'd done the right thing - even if it left a horrid feeling in her chest.

* * *

On Friday night, Kol dragged Klaus to the Grill. Guilt-tripped would be the more accurate way to describe it, but in the fallout of Kol's recent undaggering, Klaus had found his little brother's penchant for mischief to be far more fun than he remembered. In between games of pool and flirting with the pretty barmaid, Kol had managed to loosen up his older brother a little.

With drink in hand relaxed against the bar, Klaus could still feel little electric pulses when a cool draft swept in indicating the open door. He knew immediately who it was and couldn't help the smirk which threatened at the corner of his lips.

"She looks like a tasty little thing." Kol muttered as Klaus glanced to the door.

"Say another word and I'll tear out your liver." He growled back, hiding his little burst of pride with a grunt. From her blonde curls to her tight jeans, she really was a vision. Different from the grumpy being who struggled to keep her eyes open before a cup of coffee and bloody bite every morning. Not better, just different.

She walked in time with the gentle chart music playing under the chatter from the surrounding patrons. His wolf stirred as he caught her eye, but with an arch of her eyebrow, Caroline strutted past without a word. Tease.

"Caroline." Klaus said before he could stop himself.

In truth, he'd done little but think about her all day. When she hadn't returned home last night, Klaus had searched Mystic Falls himself to find her. The tightening of his chest, the irritation and frustration hadn't subsided until she walked back into her room as though nothing had happened. And then Caroline, _his Caroline_ , had refused to tell him who she was with. Even the thought of her with someone else made his wolf see red.

He'd find out who she was with soon enough, but in the meantime he'd made sure that she wouldn't have the chance to evade his hybrid guard again.

She turned sharply, the delicate scent of her perfume filling the air between them. "Oh, it's you." Caroline snarled, crossing her arms as she stopped a few feet away.

Klaus hummed, amused by the contempt in her voice as he noted how far away she stood. He couldn't help but wonder just how hungry she must have been having gone a full day and a half without his blood. Without breaking eye contact, he sipped his drink. "You should meet my little brother."

Her eyes widened comically as she turned to Kol, hard gaze faltering under his boyish grin. Caroline's lips parted, but Kol held out a hand before she could respond. "It's a pleasure, Caroline. I've heard so much about y-"

"Join us for a drink?" Klaus interrupted as she reluctantly shook Kol's hand, too polite to let their argument bleed into her interaction with a fresh face.

"Hmm, I'd rather die of thirst, but thanks." She smiled, before turning on her heel and heading directly for the door.

His wolf rumbled low in his chest, and while Klaus understood the wolf to be irked by her rejection, he was riled by her boldness. "Isn't she stunning?"

"Hmm," Kol agreed as he leaned back against the bar once more. "She certainly looks good walking away from you."Klaus caught his eye before placing the empty glass back on the bar. "I'll take that as a challenge."

* * *

"Caroline." He called, jogging across the road to catch up with her. The air was cool out, but figures leant up against buildings and strolled along the sidewalk enjoying a dry Friday night. "Are you serious?" She grumbled as she turned to glance at him. "Take a hint." Caroline turned once more, trying to hide that she was both pleased and dismayed that he'd followed her outside. "Go back inside, Klaus."

"Don't be angry love, we had a little spat. I'm over it already." Klaus placated, walking behind her.

"Oh well, I'm not." She hummed.

"Well how can I acquit myself?"Caroline sighed and turned to face him. There was maybe six feet between them, but still she could feel the heat coming from his body. In the yellow light of the streetlights, half his face was in shadow. His collar was popped up and Caroline couldn't help the way her eyes lingered on his jugular, the throb of hunger pulsing in her throat.

Swallowing down the ache, she wrapped her arms across her chest as though it would hide the speeding pulse of her heart. As much as she wanted to makeup for the sake of her hunger, she couldn't, not when the plan to kill the Originals could be so easily dismantled if only he'd go back inside. No one would ever have to know that she'd switched out the stakes, not if he stuck close to his brother.

"You invaded my privacy, stalked me and threatened my friends. So you and your expensive jewellery and your romantic drawings can leave me alone." She said, though the words made her unsettled inside.

"Oh come on." Klaus goaded. His wolf was perturbed at her rejection, pulsing inside and turning his thoughts desperate. "Take a chance Caroline." Still, she didn't move. Klaus observed her carefully, watching her nervous eyes scout the surrounding area for an escape route. Without warning he sidestepped, moving closer and sitting on a park bench to look up at her."Talk to me. Come on, get to know me. I dare you."

Caroline sighed, weighing her options. 1. Leave and go hungry. 2. Go back inside the grill and have your friends hate you. 3. Stay and maybe catch a snack.

Something about his smirk and his arm draped over the back of the bench invitingly made her sit. Outside his scent was less overwhelming, and while Caroline still felt the want to feed from him, it was well within her control given the copious amounts of animal blood she'd been sipping on all day.

She could feel his eyes burning holes into the side of her face, and so met his gaze with an uneasy nod. "So… what do you want to talk about?"

"I want to talk about you." He said simply. Caroline sniggered and rolled her eyes, but Klaus could see the smile playing on her lips. For the first time all day, his wolf preened and smiled back. "Your hopes, your dreams, everything you want in life."

She grinned openly then, shaking her head. "Just to be clear, I'm too smart to be seduced by you."

"That's why I like you." Klaus smiled back, daring to brush a curl behind her shoulder. Caroline held his gaze, lips parted as the air grew thick around them.

Then, without warning, a sharp pain erupted through their midriffs. Caroline's gasp was loud as her hands flew to her stomach, while Klaus barely flinched. He stood quickly, crouching in front of her as he pulled her hands away and replaced them with his own. No blood, no wound.

"Klaus? What is that?" She hissed at the stabs of pain.

"What did you do?" Klaus asked in confusion before his brain had quite caught up to the stabbing pain in his own chest.

Caroline pushed his hands away, pulling at her shirt to gaze down at clear, unblemished skin. "Nothing?" She shrugged, confusion and pain colouring her tone as the tender flesh made her wince.

Then as silence fell but for their panting breaths, Klaus realised. Slowly, dangerously, his eyes crept up to hers as his jaw set tight. His hand flew to her curls, and Klaus tugged a sharp fist full of hair until her eyes met his. "What did you do, Caroline?!" He hissed again.

"Klaus, I-."

"You set me up?!" He hissed, face inches away from her face. Caroline's hand came up to touch his wrist and was met with a harsh slap as he jerked away from her violently. "Kol." He whispered, before he darted away.

* * *

She'd gone straight home from the Grill to find her mom asleep on the couch, had shut off her phone and stripped down to her bra to stare in the mirror at a wound which didn't exist. The paranoia was getting the better of her after a few hours of sleep, and she hadn't found the courage to switch her phone on and see what a mess she'd made. Who was dead, Alaric? Was Kol? Would Klaus still let her feed from him knowing she'd had a hand in killing his brother?

The next day, Caroline made breakfast alone before she jumped in the car. Before she could whip herself into a frenzy thinking about the mess she'd made, she drove to the mansion on the edge of Mystic Falls. If she could get the story from Klaus, maybe she could straighten things out with her friends. Play the dumb blonde, feign her ignorance and let them go back to the drawing board.

Pulling up to the house, she cut the engine, climbed out and took quick steps to the front door. While her instinct was to go for the handle, she hesitated and instead used the door knocker. Before her hand had come to rest at her side, the door swung open.

"Hello, beautiful." Kol grinned, leaning up against the doorframe.

Caroline jumped out of her skin, shielding her eyes with her hand for dramatic effect. "You're naked." She gasped.

"And you're gorgeous." He didn't move from the doorframe.

"Kol!" Screeched Caroline, feeling as though she should just turn around and go back to bed.

"It's only half naked." But seeing her growing flush and reluctance to look around her hand, he sighed. "Did you want to come in?" He snarked as he finally shifted to let her step past him, still shielding her eyes from pale skin.

"Is Klaus in? Please?" She asked, stepping into the cool air of their foyer with sleek marble and grand staircase. There were a lot of nice houses in Mystic Falls, Tyler's and the Salvatore's to name a few, but none took her breath away quite like the Mikaelson's. It was beautiful even without all the glitz and the glamour of the ball. Stripped back with just their furniture and a few paintings, it felt fit to house royalty.

As her eyes wandered, Caroline drifted deeper into the foyer and around the circular table boasting an impressive bouquet of fresh flowers giving off a gentle, pleasant scent.

Suddenly she realised that she'd just walked blindly into being alone with an Original she'd never met. "So." She heard Kol speak from behind her and pivoted to face him. It was the first time she'd really gotten to look at him, and while the vast expanse of exposed skin on his chest was a distraction, she found herself focused on his smirk. From the dimple of his chin to the heavy brow, the family resemblance was striking, but Kol seemed younger. Younger in the face, but younger in aura too. There was playfulness about him, but Caroline had no doubt that he wouldn't hesitate to rip her limb from limb if she made a wrong step. He was dangerous for sure, and the sparkling twinkle in his eye did nothing to settle her nerves. "Heard you tried to off me last night."

Off to a great start then. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said back, keeping her chin raised.

"No?"

"No."

"Well that's good, because there would be some rather nasty consequences to having been involved in such a plan."

"Uh huh. Is Klaus in?" She asked for a second time.

Once again, he ignored it, leaning his elbows up against the table and watching her with harrowed eyes. The smirk he still wore was unnerving. "Caroline, what are your intentions with my brother?"

"My intentions?" She repeated, praying for Klaus' swift arrival.

"Nik's a bit of a prude you see-"

"Oh. Oh we're not-."

"I'd hate to see my darling brother heartbroken again-"

"There is really nothing-"

"So if you're using him for the sex-"

"None. Nope. Nada. No intentions. I have no intentions with your brother whatsoever." Caroline snapped at a far higher pitch than intended. A deep flush was working its way on to her cheeks.

"Are you sure?" Kol grinned wide.

Risking an eye roll, she gave an unimpressed "Positive."

"Well in that case, how do you feel about dinner?"

"What?!"

"Wanna show me around town?" Kol quipped, standing up to full height now. "I'm sure you know it quite intimately."

Caroline didn't need any time to think on that one. Immature and game-playing wasn't really her type. "Also no. Where is your brother?"

"So caught up on dearest Nik? What a pity." He sighed dramatically, before plucking a delicate petal from a peony stalk. "Has he ever told you about the time in Venice when he st-"

"Kol!" Klaus' bark came from the right and not a moment too soon. Caroline couldn't hide her relief to see him at the top of the stairs. Her grateful smile was met with a stony gaze and a hard set jaw.

Kol's eyes danced mischievously between the pair, before his grin widened. "Brother. I was just telling Caroline about that time wh-"

"-And Caroline was just leaving. Weren't you?" Klaus cut in, unforeseen venom in his tone making her startle.

Caroline ground her teeth together, taking a deep breath before setting her gaze with an intensity to match his. "No, actually. I wasn't."

"I can assure you, you were. You'll find enough blood in your fridge to sustain you."

"Am I missing something here?" Kol whispered into her ear, standing far closer than was polite between strangers.

Taking a sizeable step away from Kol, Caroline shifted closer to the staircase. "We need to talk, Klaus." "Funny, you didn't seem keen on that last night." He snapped, sounding very much like a moody teenager.

"Well, times change." Caroline said. Still, Klaus didn't shift from his place. "Please? I just need to talk to you. In private." She added pointedly.

"I for one am offended." Kol said.

Then Klaus let go of the bannister and took slow steps down to their level. His gaze dropped to the floor as he spoke. "And what would you like to talk about, Caroline? Shall we start with how you betrayed me?"

"I didn't."

"Don't lie to me."

"I'm not!"

He was almost next to her now, so Caroline took a step back and watched as he smirked and linked his arms behind his back. "Just a coincidence, then, that your friends attack within ten minutes of you walking into that bar?"

"Tell me why I felt that stab last night."

Kol's eyes widened, before a look of unadulterated glee spread over his face, eyes still flitting between the pair. "Well this is most interesting."

"I'm far more interested in why you and your friends tried to kill my brother." Klaus growled. "Tell me Caroline, have I not kept you sated these last few weeks? Did I not save you from the brink of death?"

"After you put me there!" She spat back.

"Semantics."

"You lie, murder and threaten people and you're surprised when they don't like you?" Caroline hissed, crossing her arms though she was tempted to slap the vase from the table just to break something.

"I've never lied to you. Who have I murdered that was of consequence?"

"No one, but-"

"-I've done nothing-"

"-But Tyler-"

"Tyler?!" He spat. "Tyler is spineless. If you showed me even half of the loyalty you so freely devoted to him then-"

"Oh so that's what this is about?" Caroline couldn't help but raise her voice as her arms flew out. "Tyler? Seriously Klaus!? Jealous?"

"You set me up!" He raised his voice in retaliation, clenched fists making the air unsettled. "Kol would be dead if it weren't for your friend's incompetence. The only family I have. I have done everything I could-"

Caroline could hardly keep up with the way his argument was jumping all over the place. "-I never asked you to, Klaus! I didn't ask for any of th-!"

Then, from deep inside the house, a deafening bang sounded. The air fell silent as Caroline looked around, heart pounding and face flushed. Kol and Klaus however, didn't even flinch.

"Get out, Caroline." Klaus said quietly. Turning back to the staircase and starting a slow ascent.

"Stay, Caroline." Kol smirked, but a sharp look from his older brother had him sulking off with an eyeroll.

"Klaus? What's going on?" Caroline asked, still trying to work out the source of the sound. Nothing looked out of place.

"Leave." He said loudly, and this time Caroline knew it was final. "Before I compel you to." He snapped before reaching the top of the stairs and disappearing into the labyrinth of the mansion.

Caroline's jaw dropped for a second. Did he know that that would make her leave? In any case, she wasn't going to stay and see if he made true on his threats. With a lingering glance and a hollow feeling in her stomach, she turned and left the mansion.

* * *

Tyler stood up from the couch when the door opened. "Was that Caroline?" He asked, eyes wide. He already knew the answer of course, she wasn't exactly quiet and he'd know her voice anywhere.

Klaus shut the door with a frown and ignored his question. He made his way over to the liquor cabinet and poured two sizeable measures, handing one to Tyler. "Sit. Let's talk about your latest assignment."


	7. Chapter 7

When the dust had settled she'd taken a quick trip to Elena's to confirm that everyone was still alive. They were mighty puzzled as to how they'd managed to find a fake white oak stake, but Caroline had shared in a few confused sentiments and then returned home to spend Saturday alone.

It was a little after 7 when there was a knock at the door. Liz hardly moved as Caroline peeled herself from the couch to answer it.

She opened it without thinking, and was frozen still by the figure who greeted her.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you."

"Tyler?!" She called, launching herself at him. He caught her easily, wrapping familiar hands around her waist. Burying her head in his neck, Caroline breathed in the heat of him mixed with the faint floral of laundry detergent.

"Can I come in?"

Caroline grinned as she pulled him inside by the hand. A withering eye from her mother on the couch emphasised the home rule _\- door open -_ as she whisked him into her room. "Where have you been?" She asked, narrowing her door so they could have the maximum amount of privacy possible. The quiet, muffled conversation from a chat show drifted in from the TV next door.

She turned around to face him then, taking in the tanned skin and angular sculpt of his face as he sat on her bed. It'd been a while since she'd heard his voicemail about leaving town, but she still couldn't help feeling the sinking disappointment over and over again. Because it was her who had almost died, and somehow Tyler had upped and left without so much as checking in.

Still those kind eyes were the ones which she'd fallen in love with. There was history there, but beyond that was a person, all sarcasm and spontaneity. One who could make her laugh with quick words and animated stories. One who was always welcome for family dinners with her mom. One who understood her reality and accepted it unquestioningly. And she had been in love with him. Maybe still was.

Tyler looked up at her with an easy smile, and she truly believed that he was happy to see her. "Blue Ridge, mostly. I did it, Care. No more sire bond."

"Are you serious?" She grinned back as she sat down and ran gentle fingers across clothed skin just to feel him.

"Yeah."

"How?"

Tyler's face fell at that, and with a gentle shake of his head, Caroline knew not to pry. Some things were too painful to speak about. She knew that better than most. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good. How are you?" He smiled, shaking off the tension and pressing her to lie down.

Caroline welcomed the feeling of his hand running up her thigh. In the dim light of the room, his sharp features were even more pronounced as she pressed their foreheads together. "I'm good. Does he know you're back?"

"Yes. But it's fine, he still thinks I'm…" Tyler trailed off before leaning in to lay a soft kiss against her lips.

"What'd he ask you to do?" Caroline breathed back, stroking across his cheeks before settling a hand on his jaw.

"Nothing I wouldn't do anyway." He mumbled, connecting his lips with hers once again.

It was innocent enough at first, gentle, sweet presses as her hands stroked over his shoulders, feeling thick muscles shift underneath them. And it was easy _\- so easy -_ to fall back into it. Even if she had spent weeks being pissed at Tyler, he could show up with warm smiles and familiar touches and it still felt like it did before her birthday.

Caroline could understand what he did, but forgiving was more difficult. Having her body wrapped up in his, losing herself to slick kisses was easy though. She wrapped a leg around his hip to pull him closer, teasing fingertips under his shirt and eventually licking along his lips until a hand fisted in her hair.

She flipped them quickly, disconnecting their lips for a second to smile down at him. No amount of self-care could really compare to this - a hot body pressed against hers and feeling the heat of his hands work over her leggings. Caroline hid a moan against his mouth, stroking gentle fingertips along his jaw.

The fire came fast then. Weeks of no sex, countless hours of missing him and burning hot need swept through her. The rhythm of their kisses turned deep and messy. The sharp tingling that came from grinding her hips against his was delicious, but her stifled gasp at the feeling broke the spell.

"Hey! Hey, Care…" Tyler muttered, pushing at her shoulder until she sat up. "Your mom." He said somewhat gingerly.

Caroline nodded softly, shifting to sit away from him to cool herself down. How turned on she was was a little mortifying, and while she'd never actually have gone all the way with her mom next door, being told to stop didn't do much to heal her bruised ego. "Okay, okay. Just missed you."

"I missed you. So much." Tyler soothed.

Wrapping her arms around herself, she took a moment to look at him. While he was beautiful, Caroline couldn't help but feel an unpleasant hollow in her chest.

He met her eyes with a shared sadness and the air turned heavy. Despite the droning chatter of late night TV drifting in, the quiet was painful. Tyler broke it first. "I'm really sorry, for biting-"

"It's fine. It's fine, I know." Because she did know. She knew he couldn't help but follow an order - a sire bond order. At least that's what they all said, right? It's not like she'd ever know what that felt like, she just had to take his word for it. It wasn't that she didn't trust him, it was just that the way he'd run away seemed a lot like an admission of guilt.

Staring him in the face in the dim light of her bedroom, Caroline realised that Tyler had shattered something between them that wouldn't be mended by slick kisses and gentle words. She wasn't sure if it could be mended at all. Or if she wanted it to be.

"I know I hurt you." Tyler said slowly, and diverting his attention to his hands. "I just need a little bit of time to… wrap my head around it."

That hit her like a hammer to the head. "What do you mean?"

"I think we should slow down a bit, Care."

"I haven't seen you in weeks, how much slower can we go?" Caroline whispered incredulously. The last thing she needed was Liz getting involved.

"Care…" Tyler breathed, looking at the ceiling.

"Are you… are you breaking up with me?" Caroline spat, wide eyed as she too looked away.

"No." He replied quickly. Too quickly. "Kind of. I just need time. I love you."

"And I love you. So what's the problem? Did Klaus tell you to break up with me?"

"What? No!"

She watched him with weary eyes, chest tight and face flushed with embarrassment of yet another rejection. Tyler wouldn't look at her. In fact, he seemed very interested by literally everything else in the room except her form. With her heart hammering, Caroline pulled her cardigan tighter around her shoulders and took a deep breath. _Don't cry. Do not cry. Don't cry._

"Please just believe me. I need time. Okay?" He said softly. She really wanted to believe him, but her trust was running in short supply. Caroline had the urge to go to bed and never wake up.

"Fine. Take all the time you need. I'm sure you can see yourself out."

At being dismissed, Tyler shot up and out without so much as a look over his shoulder.

Hollowed, shocked and confused beyond all hell, Caroline crawled under the covers and let herself cry into the quiet.

* * *

"Bonnie?" Caroline called, stepping through the front door. She normally wouldn't intrude, but the rain was pouring down outside and to be frank, it'd been the worst weekend ever.

"In here." Bonnie called from the living room. "Are you okay?" She asked immediately, twisting from where she sat on the couch.

Caroline briefly considered lying, but the confusion and anxiety was too much. The words were out of her mouth before she could doubt her own judgement. "Bonnie, if I ask you something could it stay between us?"

"Of course. What's up?"

"I need you to swear it." She continued, toeing her wet shoes off before sitting on the armchair opposite Bonnie. "No one else can know."

"Care, you're freaking me out."

She could see it in Bonnie's wide eyes, and in the way she leaned forwards in her chair. Genuine, real concern. But how much could she actually tell her? Would the mention of Klaus send her reeling? Fidgeting with the skin of her fingernails, Caroline decided to air on the side of caution. "Is there a way that you can like, feel someone's pain."

"Empathy?"

"No, no. Like, if you broke your arm and I felt it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Bonnie answered.

Caroline considered finding faith and praying to God, but then with a deep sigh, tried again. "Since my birthday, I keep feeling things."

Bonnie's brow furrowed and she crossed her arms as she spoke flatly. "Things. You keep feeling things."

"Things that aren't mine. Pain, emotions, it's so hard to explain."

"Care, if you need someone to talk to-"

"No Bonnie. I'm fine, okay? I just… something really weird is happening to me since I was bitten."

"Tyler? This is about Tyler?" Bonnie asked, and Caroline couldn't help the way her face fell.

Then again, Tyler was a hybrid too. Caroline hated lying, especially to Bonnie, but given the gang's track record of Klaus murder plots, best keep her only source of nutrition out of conversation for now. "…Yes. I think so."

"It kind of sounds like wolf mating."

The room was silent but for the faint sound of the rain outside. "What?" Caroline asked, trying incredibly hard to keep her tone level. _Mating._

"Remember in Twilight when Jacob imprinted on-"

"You've got to be kidding."

"Not really." Bonnie continued. She chewed her lip for a moment, before walking over to the old wooden bookshelf where Grams kept her histories. "I don't know much about it. It's a part of werewolf folklore - ancient, powerful magic. I didn't think it was real."

"It doesn't sound real." Caroline confirmed, because it _totally_ didn't. But in a world of witches, vampires, werewolves, dopplegangers and hybrids, was it really that much of a stretch? Once again her heart was beating far too fast, and she found herself grateful that Bonnie was human and didn't have the hearing to pick it up.

"It's how powerful wolves chose their partners. _Apparently_."

"Their partners for..?"

"Life. Mating. Procreation."

Caroline thought she was going to throw up. Her stomach jolted, sinking far lower than it had even in her conversation with Tyler the night before. _Klaus. Mating._ "No way."

"Why? It's possible - Tyler's crazy about you." Bonnie replied, flicking through a dusty volume and oblivious to Caroline's freak out.

"Because I'm dead. I can't… procreate?!"

"Yeah, I know. I think you're supposed to have a mark or something, where he bit you. Do you?" She asked looking up expectantly.

"No. Nothing." Caroline replied quickly.

She raked her mind back. Her memory from her birthday was foggy at best, faded in a haze of pain and buried in the weight of her impending demise. She'd bitten Klaus' wrist, though. She was almost sure of it. Had she seen it since then? He was a hybrid, wouldn't his skin just heal anyway? She couldn't remember, but she'd certainly never seen a mark.

"I don't even have the right grimoires to check, but I'll look in to it for you. It's a long shot though, Care. Is there anything else going on?"

 _Yeah. I can only drink his blood. He's let me bite him without batting an eyelid for the last few weeks and by the way, I really struggle to keep my clothes on around him._

"No. Nothing, just feeling weird." Caroline mustered a faint smile and stood, shifting to slip her shoes back on. "But thanks, Bon. I need to go drop something off at the station, but I'll see you tomorrow yeah?"

Without hearing an answer, Caroline stepped out into the rain. She let the door close behind her and tried to just breath for a second. _Werewolf mating._

As she went to reach for her car keys, swift hands wrapped around her head. A brief, fleeting second of panic sizzled through her, before her neck made a horrific crack.

Caroline's body dropped to the floor.

* * *

"Is that all you need?" Klaus asked, tapping his fingernails against the table.

"Do you have one?"

Klaus gave her a sharp warning look. "Is that all you need?" He repeated, and his tone left no doubt as to the repercussions of her prying.

"A binding agent. Doppelgänger blood could work…" Gloria kept talking. Klaus could see her mouth moving, but he was frozen in his seat.

Sharp, brutal pain had struck around his neck just for a second, and then it was gone and all he was left with was empty dread.

He'd left Mystic Falls for just a day, just one quick run to see what Gloria had uncovered on immortality spells. He had put in place a security detail for Caroline before he'd gone, but he hadn't imagined the pain - had he?

Klaus stood without a word and ran, sprinted to his car while dialling on his phone. _Caroline, no answer._

His heart pounded in his chest as hot, fresh rage surged through his veins. The wolf in him was howling, wide awake and vicious to be allowed free reign. To take him to her quicker than any car could, Klaus let it loose without hesitation.

They'd hit the Virginia state line before the burning, fierce pain ripped through their hands.

* * *

He didn't think, when he ran. Not consciously at least. Not coherently. Klaus was stuck in a jumble of _mate_ and _Caroline_ and constant burning pain. Above it all, the unsettling panic of a pounding heart and muscles that wouldn't relax. _Fear_. When was the last time that Klaus had felt genuine, horrific fear?

His wolf didn't let him linger on it. Didn't let him linger on anything. Nothing stuck long enough to develop into a thought, just fleeting, half-digested concepts flying past at a similarly rapid pace to the trees and the towns and the hills.

Despite this lack of thought, Klaus could _feel_ so much. He could feel his wolf, not buried inside his chest anymore, but in his own head. He could feel the fatigue, the likes of which he hadn't felt before. Most importantly, he could feel _her_. Her own rapid heartbeat, her fear, her pain, all things he'd experienced before. But now he could feel exactly where she was and followed nothing but instinct to get him there.

He was well into town before the flashes of the red brick buildings resonated, and it wasn't until he'd rounded the football fields of the high school that he slowed.

Just as he'd entered the school grounds, the pain around his hands and mouth stopped. Frozen for just a second, Klaus felt his stomach drop before keen ears picked up footsteps.

He moved quickly, not quite sure whether it was him or the wolf navigating the labyrinth of corridors. Then, without any warning at all, Caroline was in his sight.

Klaus launched himself at her, wrapping a hand around her waist and another around her mouth. There were others around - he couldn't see them, but was sure of their presence. Whether friend or foe, he didn't care to find out.

It was five corridors before Klaus set her down, shhh-ing into her ear to try and stop her weak struggling. "It's okay." He whispered, not entirely sure if he was trying to convince her or himself. She was there. Right there in his arms. Alive and kicking. And yet paranoia ran thick in his veins.

"It's okay, it's me." He stroked down her hair, loosening his grip on her to run shaky hands over hers. Her wounds were raw and gruesome, but still she let him ghost his fingers across them.

"It's okay. You're safe." Klaus muttered, allowing himself deep inhales of her neck. There was no one close, no footsteps to be heard, no other sound but her. Her breath, her heartbeat, the shift of her clothes as she lent back against him.

"Elena…" Caroline croaked.

As tenderly as he could allow when hot licks of anger brewed inside, Klaus turned her in his arms. Her mouth was healing too, but marred and speckled with wounds from ear to ear. _Vervain_ \- the scent of it strong even with its fading potency.

Letting wild eyes trail down her body, Klaus saw no other visible injuries, but the fury at the ones already sustained was enough. "We'll save Elena. You go straight home, you stay inside. Do you understand?"

Seconds ticked by and neither moved an inch. Caroline's eyes were wide and confusion coloured her brow.

"Do you understand me?" He whispered a little louder.

Beneath his hands, Caroline shook. "Thank you." She breathed, before she ran from the hallway.

* * *

Caroline had lost track of time, but was reluctant to glance at the clock on her bedside table and her phone had been long since discarded on her vanity.

Her wounds had healed quick enough with a top up of the remaining hybrid blood from her fridge, but slicing pain had given way to dull, aching numbness. It felt a lot like waiting on execution, sitting in the darkness and waiting for news. Who was killed because of her tonight? Alaric? Elena? Stefan? Who's blood was on her hands now.

Rather than let that guilt, or the ungodly pain and terror of the past hours swarm her mind, Caroline wrapped herself in her comforter and chose to focus on something - _anything_ \- else.

Wherever her mind wandered, it always came back to him. Because dismissing all else, the bloodlust and the gifts and the pain they'd shared, Caroline had known that he'd come for her. Not Stefan, not Tyler, _Klaus_. Waking up with her mouth burning with vervain and pencils impaling her palms, she had known so vehemently, unequivocally, that he was coming for her. And as illogical as it was, strapped down and tortured, she'd prayed for him.

The creak of the door should have made her jump, but Caroline already knew who it was. A quick glance through the darkness confirmed it, and he stepped inside without another sound.

"You're angry." She whispered, pulling her arms tighter around herself.

She could see - even in the darkness - the blood splatters which dirtied his jacket and shirt. The metallic scent of it permeated the air.

"Not at you." Klaus said. "Do you need..?"

Caroline eyed him from beneath the mountains of blankets she'd amassed. She considered it, the taste of him, but blood was the last thing on her mind. Then she considered pushing him on why she felt his pain, but it was clear from his stance that he was tired and in no mood for that. Neither was she. "No. No, I'm okay. Thank you."

"I'll leave you be then. Goodnight, Caroline." He said shortly, before turning for the door.

"Could you stay? Please." Caroline asked on instinct. Having him standing in her room was the safest she'd felt in hours. She watched the emotions play over his face, saw his uncertainty in the way he froze up. "I don't want to be alone."

His breath was audible. "I have to get back." Tense shoulders matching his tight voice.

"Please." Caroline whispered, tense and awaiting yet another rejection. Slowly, she opening up her cocoon of blankets in silent invitation.

Klaus' eyes trailed down and into the darkness. "I'm filthy."

"I don't care."

Another second, then Klaus was shucking his jacket to drape it over the stool of her vanity.

Caroline had to fight hard to keep the relief from her expression, but the almighty sigh she gave out probably gave her away. She glanced away as his shirt was also placed on her vanity, ignoring the slow creep of flush which inevitably rose on her cheeks. She found herself too worn-out to care. As Klaus slipped under the many covers, Caroline closed her eyes to hide the tears which threatened to leak.

He didn't touch her, and she didn't touch him. Neither spoke a word, though Caroline shifted down to lie beside him. His scent was stronger now and the heat which he expelled had her kicking at least 2 of the blankets away.

They stayed that way for long, long minutes.

Then, she felt gentle fingertips pressed up against hers. That touch, that _tiny_ touch could never be enough. Caroline scooted herself closer and let him tuck her against his chest, her head cradled up against his neck.

It was so much, the heat of him and the intensity of the scent. The echoes of pain and the aching trauma. But pressed against him, she'd never felt safer. Tears fell freely, and he made no move to stop them. No words were exchanged. No further touches had.

As the sun started to rise in the sky, Caroline let herself sleep.

Klaus let his wolf hold its mate. For just a second, he let himself forget about her betrayal.


End file.
